Simple Away Mission with Dr Keller
by DaniWilder
Summary: Is any away mission with Dr. Keller simple? Definitely a McKeller story. Set in Season 5 with spoilers from earlier seasons.
1. Defending her Honor

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis because I would not cancel it.

Spoiler: Trio, Kindred 1&2, The Seed, The Shrine

A/N: This is my first fan fiction, so I'm quite nervous about the reaction. If anyone thinks I should continue the story, please review and let me know. Thanks for Reading!

* * *

"So…the next time I'm in the infirmary, I'm gonna tell her how she can really make it all better."

The laughter and back slapping that accompanied the completion of the young Marine's story about Doctor Jennifer Keller was the final straw for Rodney McKay. He was heading for the Gate Room and their next mission, but he abruptly stopped and turned to face the Marines. He had never been so angry in his life and that was saying something. If there was one thing Rodney was known for throughout his career, it was being angry. What set him off this particular morning were the comments these young Marines had made about _his _Jennifer. He didn't know when he started thinking of her as _his_, but he did. He felt as if she was always there, even before he met her. Poor Katie Brown never really had a chance. Normally, he would never give any indication of his feelings to her or anyone else but a sudden possessive, protective side of Rodney that he did not know he had reared itself.

"Doctor Keller is the Chief Medical Officer of this expedition and patches up you morons after your stupidity gets the best of you day after day. She does so with grace and genuine concern for your well-being, which you obviously don't understand or you'd never speak about her in such a…a…vulgar juvenile manner!" Rodney snapped at them. "If I ever hear of any of you saying anything like that about Doctor Keller again, I'll…"

He could not get it out._ How dare they talk about Jennifer like that?_ She was the sweetest, kindest, most compassionate person he knew. She greeted everyone with a smile and wanted nothing but the best for them. He knew how upset she got when anyone died or got seriously injured and that she dedicated every waking moment of her life to saving him from the parasite that invaded his brain and saving Carson after they rescued him from Michael. The snarky astrophysicist felt his hands clench into fists and was ready to take a swing at them.

"You talking to me?" said the largest of the three Marines, laughing. They were all much larger than Rodney now that he really looked at them making him realize that he was going to be visiting the infirmary much sooner than he had planned. It was too bad because Jennifer was going on this away mission and would not be there to patch up the damage these guys were going to inflict.

"Who do you think you are, DeNiro?" a female voice said from behind McKay.

"More like Jackass" said another slightly deeper female voice.

Rodney wanted to turn and see who it was, but was afraid to take his eyes off the three big Marines.

Lieutenant Laura Cadman and Sergeant Dusty Mehra came up on either side of him. Dusty was holding a really big gun over her left shoulder. Laura had a pissed off expression on her face.

"I'll finish McKay's threat from earlier," said Dusty in a calm voice. "If we ever hear any of you talking like that about Doctor Keller, I'll ram this…"

"Good Morning everyone" came the voice of Major Lorne. He apparently did not sense the tension as he approached.

All the soldiers came to attention and turned to face the Major. He nodded to them and McKay, who returned the nod.

The three young Marines filed into the Gate Room after Major Lorne while Dusty and Laura stayed with Rodney.

"Who would've thought you had it in you." said Dusty shaking her head and smirking with an admiring grin.

"That took some nerve to stand up to those Jarheads. I'm really proud of you. We all knew you have the hots for Jennifer, but this means you really care about her." Added Laura with a huge grin on her face.

Laura laughed as Rodney looked horror-struck. _Are my feelings that obvious?_ Dusty just laughed and shook her head. Laura threw an arm around Rodney's shoulder and leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek. "That was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Maybe I'll find a guy like you to defend my honor some day." Laura kept her arm around him all the way to the Gate Room.

"What honor?" Dusty could not stop laughing.

"Thanks," was all Rodney could mutter. He really was thankful they showed up. He knew they could each kick his ass and had no doubt they could take down the three Marines as well. He also knew that they both liked Jennifer. He saw her with Laura, Dusty, Major Anne Teldy, and Amelia Banks having lunch at least once a week. Sometimes Teyla joined them. Jennifer said it was a female-bonding thing and that he would never understand.

* * *

Doctor Jennifer Keller stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Laura kiss Rodney. Rodney did not pull away from her as they walked with her arm around him. The normally flustered Rodney McKay she knew and loved was nowhere to be seen.

_Cadman and McKay? _She had read the file about _their _incident, but did not really believe it. _Laura and Rodney? It can't be._ Yet there they were in front of her. Laura had kissed Rodney. She was touching him and he was not pulling away.

Jennifer had been looking forward to this mission for several days. Delivering some medical supplies and showing the villagers how to use them would be easy. There were some Marines going to train the villagers on how to use the new weapons Woolsey agreed to supply them with. Jennifer was hoping to spend some time alone with Rodney. He had not been to this planet before and there was an Ancient temple close to the village. She was positive he would like to poke around and look for Ancient technology. It was not much of a date, but at least they would have a little time to do something together. She still had not gotten up the nerve to ask him on a real date. The drink after the Genii mining incident did not really count. He had saved her life, so she owed him.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ronon's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"What?" Jen replied blankly.

"Are you okay?" Ronon had concern in his voice. He saw Jennifer staring into the Gate Room like she had seen a ghost.

"Yes, I'm fine" Jennifer decided she was going to ignore Rodney and Laura. _It was for the best. Rodney would never be interested in a Voodoo Doctor anyways._ Besides, she did not **really** think the words Rodney told her while infected with the parasite were true. He never seemed to have much recollection of what happened when they talked about it. He thanked her for saving him and apologized for how mean his team and sister were to her, but that was all.

"Good Morning, Doc. Looks like it's going to be a great day."

Jennifer looked up and saw Laura Cadman standing in front of her with a big grin on her face. Jennifer was suddenly angrier than she had ever been in her life and felt like taking a swing at Laura. She had never hit anyone in her life, but this was killing her. Laura, who claimed to be her friend, had kissed Rodney. Something that Jennifer wanted to do more than breathe.

"It might be for some, Lieutenant," She said in a frosty voice as she walked past Laura knocking into her shoulder.

Laura was floored. _What happened to Jennifer? Did she hear what those Jarheads said and was upset? _She followed after her friend. "Hey, wait up. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jennifer said as coldly as possible and turned around to inspect the cases that were getting loaded in the jumper.

"Good morning, Jennifer," came the voice of Rodney McKay. He was very excited she was coming and hoped to get some time alone with her on the planet. She mentioned an Ancient Temple near the village. _Maybe we can go there, alone._

Jennifer glared at him and said, "For some."

Rodney stared after her with a shocked expression. _What had he done?_ He never remembered Jennifer being angry at him, even when he did not follow all of her medical instructions or when he insulted her. _Something was definitely wrong._ The protective side of him that showed itself this morning was still in control, so he vowed to find out what upset her and fix it.

She stormed past him and started yelling at the two medical technicians who were accompanying them. She scolded them for packing things wrong and she yelled at Major Lorne when he asked if she was okay.

"Do I look like I'm dying or something? I'm sick of everyone asking if I'm okay. I AM FINE!!"

Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard entered the Gate Room and walked toward the jumper. Jennifer turned to see him and growled, "Colonel Sheppard, I don't think your team has enough to do. You might want to give them more gear to pack."

Sheppard and Lorne looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "Lover's quarrel?" John asked Lorne. Lorne shook his head._ Jennifer and Rodney, I hope not._ He had no idea what set Jennifer off and had never seen her angry in the almost two years he knew her.

As she turned to enter the jumper, she was fighting back tears. _What was going on?_ She was mad at Rodney and Laura. She should not be mean to everyone else and should not really be upset with Rodney. He finally found a woman he was comfortable enough with to let her kiss him in public. He was always flustered when she was near him. _Oh No. _She has been chasing after him and he was being nice instead of just telling her to get lost. _Why didn't she see it before? _She sat with him and his team in the mess hall, went down to his lab, always went to treat him when he came into the infirmary and ... _My God, I'm stalking him._ She closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall of the jumper. _What an idiot?_


	2. The Flight

Spoilers for: Missing, Tracker, and Lost Tribe

A/N Thanks for the feedback. I will continue. This chapter is not too long, but I needed to get the bunny out of my head.

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The inside of the jumper was eerily quiet as they flew through the space gate to M7V-805. Jennifer seldom accompanied Team Sheppard on off world missions, but when she did there was usually a running discussion between her and the Team. With the addition of Jennifer's close friends, Laura and Evan, there should be no end to the talking and laughing. Instead there was only silence.

Rodney was thinking through last evening to figure out what he did to upset Jennifer. He was quite certain it was something he did because he never said or did the right thing around her. It was like she was kryptonite to his intelligence. She was spending a lot of time around his team lately, so there were more opportunities to stick his foot in his mouth. He imagined she was hanging around because she wanted to be invited to accompany them on more off world missions. It was never spoken aloud, but Rodney knew Sheppard did not really want Jennifer coming with them. She did not have a great record off world: being hunted by cannibals with Teyla, getting trapped in a mine with him and Sam Carter, getting kidnapped by Kiryk, and being trapped on the Daedalus with the Wraith. Rodney had to admit it made him think twice about letting Jennifer go off world, too.

Last night, she ate with him at dinnertime and was at movie night. Dinner involved most of the senior team plus Laura. He remembered Jennifer, Lorne and Radek arguing about The Lord of the Rings movie and when it should have ended. She also traded opinions with John about the best quarterback to play football. Apparently, Jennifer was a fan of American Football. This was something that seemed to greatly interest John, much to Rodney's displeasure. The _absolute _last thing he needed was John to suddenly realize how wonderful and beautiful Jennifer was and to start his Kirk routine on her. It was bad enough that Ronon "had intentions", but to add John into the mix was too much for his tired old heart to take. At least he stood a chance against Ronon because Jennifer was a genius and enjoyed a good verbal sparring match. She would never get that with the Caveman. John, on the other hand, was funny, witty and, Rodney was loath to admit it, intelligent. He seriously could not think of anything that he might have done wrong, though. He didn't say much because he was pretty content to watch her shoot down Radek and John's ideas and offer up her own. He could have watched and listened to her go on all night. Even though he didn't like American football, he found himself agreeing with her arguments just because she was so passionate about them.

The movie for movie night was the original Terminator, which Jennifer said was one of her favorites. She sat next to him on the sofa and was forced to squeeze against him because John sat on the other side of her. It was impossible for Rodney to concentrate on the movie and offer his critiques like he usually did. He could still feel Jennifer's entire right side pressed against him. He remembered the smell of her flowery soap and could feel her breath on his neck when she leaned over frequently to say something about what was going on in the movie. He couldn't remember saying or doing anything with her that close. Perhaps his arm brushed against her a couple of times when he reached for popcorn or a drink. After the movie, they walked toward their quarters chatting about the movie and today's mission. He said good night to her and to John who was right behind them.

_Oh, no!_ Rodney just put it all together and suddenly shot John the angriest glare he could come up with. John must have tried his Kirk routine on Jennifer after Rodney went in his quarters and it upset her. She now had to face an away mission with John and it made her uncomfortable. Rodney was suddenly as angry as he was with the Marines. As soon as he got John alone down on the planet, he was going to let him have it.

John must have felt Rodney's glare because he looked over and said, "What?"

"Nothing!" Rodney snapped and turned back to his console.

_This day was getting weirder and weirder. _John first dealt with Keller yelling, which he had never thought possible. When she was furious with his team about wanting to take Rodney to the Shrine on Talus she didn't yell at them. Now McKay looked ticked off for no good reason.

"What?"John repeated because Rodney never answered the first time. Rodney only ignored him.

_Just what I need. I'm on a mission with too love-sick team members, a couple of wet-behind-the-ears med techs and a bunch of newbie Marines. _He was thankful Ronon, Cadman, and Lorne were here or he would have turned the jumper around and gone home.


	3. Confrontations

A/N Thanks for all the feedback. I'm not sure if I capture the right tone in the dialogue. I can hear the characters saying the lines, but they might not come out how I want them to on the page. I hope I don't disappoint.

* * *

John set the jumper down near the village on M7V-805 and sighed in relief. No one did much talking on the ride. Cadman and Lorne were chatting about some new training they wanted to roll out to the Marines. Sheppard could not tell what was going on in the back where Jennifer, Ronon and the others were, but he didn't think they were talking.

The village was located near a large mountain range and the closest place to land a jumper was in a meadow that sloped down to a large lake about a quarter mile from the village. There was a path the wound up to the village from the lake to their right. John noticed several villagers waiting for their arrival. This was a little strange because John realized they were early.

* * *

Jennifer could not wait to get out of the jumper. She spent her entire ride with her eyes closed thinking of what she was going to say to Laura. The CMO had it all rehearsed and only needed to wait for the opportunity to get Laura alone. Then she could tell her off.

Ronon followed Jennifer out of the jumper and noticed some people waiting for them up on the path. _Why do these folks all look the same; same brown clothes, same primitive weapons and the same greedy expressions at their arrival._

"Doctor Keller and Major Lorne, so good to see you again. I take it Mr. Woolsey could not join you this time?" said an older gentleman of about fifty with graying hair and a slight limp in his walk. He approached Jennifer and reached his hand out to take hers. There was something about the gesture and his look that Ronon did not like.

"Karric, it's good to see you again. You shouldn't have walked down to meet us. You need to rest that leg or it will never heal," Jennifer smiled at him and took his hand. Because he was a man, he melted under her smiling gaze. Ronon shook his head in disgust. He definitely did not like this guy.

"It would be rude not to be here to welcome you back with all the gifts you are bringing," He looked at the crates being unloaded from the jumper. "I don't think we can thank you and Mr. Woolsey enough for giving us these supplies. They will help us with our medical problems and against the raiders from the mountains."

"Your hospitality is thanks enough," Jennifer said with a smile.

_She definitely could take Woolsey's job in a heartbeat,_ Ronon thought.

"These must be the others you told us about," Karric said looking at John and Rodney.

"Yes," Jennifer turned toward them. The Satedan noticed Karric did not release her hand and was starting to feel anger surge through his system.

"This is Colonel John Sheppard and Doctor Rodney McKay." Karric reached out to shake each of their hands, finally having to let go of Jennifer's to do so.

"Ah, Doctor McKay. I have heard about your skill and genius from Mr. Woolsey and cannot wait to have you look at some of the items we have in our village. He assured us that you would be able to figure out what they do and perhaps get them working for us."

"Well, Rodney's genius is sometimes a bit over rated," John jumped in, much to Rodney's dismay. John was not too pleased that Woolsey would have told a bunch of strangers about Rodney's skills. _Didn't he realize that could put Rodney in danger?_

"Funny, Sheppard," Rodney growled through clenched teeth. _Making a move on my woman was bad enough, but cutting me down in front of a stranger is the last straw._

"I'll be more than happy to solve your problems with these artifacts. I have some equipment I need to bring up from the jumper. Sheppard and I will be up shortly," Rodney gave John a look that said "over here, now" as he moved back into the jumper.

Major Lorne and Lieutenant Cadman got the other soldiers and technicians mobilized to haul the stuff up to the village. Jennifer walked alongside Karric with Ronon looming not far behind them as they headed to the village leaving Rodney and John alone with the jumper. Rodney knew that Ronon would watch over her, so he was not too concerned about her safety. He was concerned about Ronon's _intentions_, but he needed to deal with John first.

"Are you finally going to tell me what the hell's got you so wound up today? I thought you were looking forward to this one," John said as he followed Rodney into the jumper.

Rodney was trying really hard to get control on his anger. His first thoughts were of slugging John, but he knew John would beat the crap out of him and ask questions later. The angry Canadian thought pretty hard about throwing one surprise punch, though.

"As if you don't know," he shot back.

"No, I don't" John said looking surprised.

"What did you do to Jennifer last night?" Rodney just blurted out. He felt pretty cocky after surviving his encounter with the Marines this morning and was truly worried about Jennifer, so he went straight to the point for the first time in his life.

"What?" John was not expecting this.

"I know you got turned on when Jennifer was talking to you about your stupid football. Then you sat on top of her at the movie. She was almost in my lap to get away from you. Then you followed her to her quarters. What did you do!" Rodney's fists clenched and he was ready to throw that punch.

"Whoa, back off, Meredith," John took a step back because he recognized the signs of someone ready to lose control. "I didn't do anything to Jennifer."

"Save it, Kirk. I knew it was just a matter of time before you realized how beautiful and…and… amazing she is. Well...I'm warning you that you're not good enough for her and I won't stand by while you try to pressure her into something. Jennifer's a good friend and I won't let you make her into another notch on John Sheppard's bed post," Rodney was almost yelling by the end of his rant. His face was red and his eyes were blazing.

John took another step back because he had never seen Rodney this angry. He could not help but smile a little. _Rodney was obviously head-over-heels for Jennifer._ A small chuckle came out as he realized that some things were meant to be.

"If you calm down, I can explain everything. But I need you to believe that I did not put the moves on Jennifer, nor do I have the desire to," John had his hands out in front of him motioning for McKay to calm down.

Rodney was still suspicious, but the part of him who thought of John as a good friend told him to calm down and listen.

"I admit that I did crowd Jennifer a bit on the sofa, but it was with the intention of making her sit closer to you," John put up a hand to silence Rodney as the physicist was preparing to cut in. "Let me finish, Rodney. I know you are crazy about her and I know that you won't ever do anything about it without some pushing from others. I also admit to following the two of you. I was hoping to catch up and suggest the three of us hang out in your quarters playing video games or something like that, but you took off too soon. So, you can see that I had your best intentions in mind."

"Does everyone know?" Rodney said in a quiet, defeated voice. There was no point hiding his feelings about Jennifer. He basically called Sheppard out because he was jealous.

"Teyla, Cadman, Carson, Zelenka, and I most definitely. I think Lorne suspects but he really does think of Jennifer as a little sister. I learned early on in life that you don't talk about hooking a guy's littler sister up around him," John said with a smile. "Now, if you are not going to fight me for Jennifer, let's get up to the village so you can spend some time with your girlfriend."

"My girlfriend," Rodney looked at John with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. He definitely liked the sound of that. "What makes you think she'd ever be interested in me?"

"You cannot be this clueless and still call yourself a man. Let's go." John shook his head in disbelief as they left the jumper.

* * *

As they walked to the village, Jennifer discussed the health of the villagers with Karric. Major Lorne asked if the raiders had been around lately. Evan was not happy that Woolsey agreed to give them some weapons. The last time they visited, Lorne's team accompanied Jennifer and Woolsey to the settlement and he did not see any signs of battles with these raiders. They told Woolsey that they were terrorized by them all the time. He planned on doing a very close inspection of the town again to look for any signs of a fight.

Beckett had originally made contact with this village and asked Jennifer to look in on them from time to time. The first time she came with Beckett, they brought the villagers' concerns back to Woolsey. Due to all the Ancient technology they had seen, Woolsey felt he should personally go back with them. Sheppard's team was out, so Lorne's got picked to accompany them. Lorne had activated a couple of things with his ATA gene and their scientists wanted to ask him some questions. Woolsey told him to stay with them, so he did not hear the negotiations. He could not imagine that they had anything important enough for weapons. _We'd only do that for several ZPMs._

"I do hope your Doctor McKay doesn't take too long to get up to the village," Karric said to Jennifer. "My scientists have a great deal to show him and we have a big feast planned for this evening."

"I'm sure he'll be along soon," Jennifer said as her smile faded somewhat. She almost forgot she was angry at Rodney. He got that adorable, smug look when Karric was flattering him and her heart melted._ Too bad John had to be a jerk and shoot him down in front of a stranger. _She knew John meant it as good-natured ribbing, but Jennifer felt protective of Rodney. So many people dismissed him based on his rough exterior. There was so much more beneath the surface, but people would not take the time to look. In a way she was very glad that other women did not take the time because she was sure they would not let him go. _That's what was going on with Laura. The beautiful Marine didn't make a move all these years because there was no one who noticed how wonderful Rodney really was._ When Jennifer confessed, after a couple of beers, that she was infatuated with Rodney, it must have gotten Laura thinking about her own relationship with him. She had to get Laura alone somewhere.

The opportunity presented itself a short while after they got to the village. Her med techs were bringing the medical supplies into the infirmary and Jennifer was talking with their local healers on how to use some of the medicines. She looked around for her shadow and saw Laura standing by the door talking with one of the techs. Evan always assigned someone to shadow her. Ever since the incident with Teyla, if he went off world with her, he did not let her stay alone. _He really did mean it when he said he thought of her as a little sister. _Jennifer smiled at that thought. She'd always wanted a big brother.

The fact that Laura was her shadow was going to make this easy. She felt her stomach tighten because she hated confrontations, but this had to be done. She had to know if Laura was serious about Rodney or just screwing around.

Jennifer realized Rodney was never going to make any type of move and that she would have to do it. She thought they were headed in the right direction last night. At dinner she noticed his eyes on her most of the night. When the physician sat next to the physicist at movie night, he did not seem too flustered. The wound-up McKay was actually calm and mellow. She was glad Sheppard sat next to her because it allowed her to sit closer to Rodney. Later, she hoped he would suggest they take a walk or go to his quarters, but he only walked away.

"Hey, Lieutenant," Jennifer called to Laura.

"Yes, Doctor," she said back.

"I'd like a moment if you don't mind," Jennifer walked past Laura into the street.

"Whatever you want, Doc. You're the important one around here."

Jennifer glared at Laura who glared back. Laura realized Jennifer was angry at her about something and she could not back down from a fight. She could not think of what she had done, but it looked like she did not have to wonder much longer.

Jennifer led them to an alley near the edge of town. Laura walked into the alley so she could see what was going on behind Jennifer who had her back to the street. She might be pissed at Jennifer, but she was still charged with protecting her and took that very seriously.

"Are you finally going to tell me why you've been such a bitch to be around this morning?" Laura was always a straight shooter and never held anything back.

"As if you don't know," Jennifer snarled.

"No, Jen, I really don't" Laura had a bit of sadness in her voice. She had never had a lot of female friends growing up with a bunch of brothers. Then she joined the Corp, which was still mostly men, so that did not help. She and Jennifer hit it off instantly when they met on Atlantis and she did not want to lose that friendship over some type of misunderstanding.

"You don't remember doing anything this morning that might upset me? Nothing that might be seen as a betrayal? A violation of trust?" Jennifer was clenching and unclenching her fists.

"I didn't see you this morning until we got to the gate room," Laura was quickly going over what happened this morning in her head. She did not catch Jennifer at breakfast because her sparring session with Dusty took longer than expected._ Jennifer wouldn't be pissed about a missed breakfast._ She got her gear and Dusty went with her to the gate room. They ran into Rodney and the idiot Marines and then she saw Jennifer.

"Yeah, you didn't see me until you got to the gate room, but I saw you!" Jennifer was yelling.

"You saw me before we got to the gate room?" Laura was totally confused. "So what, I didn't do any…"

All of a sudden the realization of what she had done hit Laura like an explosive blast and she started laughing. She could not help herself. _This is too funny._

"What the hell's so funny?"

"You think..."more laughter, "you must have seen…" Laura could not control herself._ Jennifer was jealous._

"Yea, I saw. How could you do this to me? Stop laughing!" The more Laura laughed, the louder Jennifer's voice got. "I confided in you. I haven't told anyone, but you. Not Lorne or Zelenka or Carson or Teyla. No one but my _supposed _best friend!"

Jennifer was almost in tears as the fact that Laura did not care became more obvious with her laughter.

"Hell hath no fury…" Laura started but could not finish without laughing again.

"How could you, Laura? You know I've been crazy about Rodney since I met him. I can't believe that you would ignore him all these years and then when someone comes along that…that… really loves him for who he is. You would then decide it was time to make your move!"

"Jennifer, calm down. You have this soooo wrong," Laura put one hand out in front of her to signal for Jennifer to calm down. Her other hand was holding her P90.

"I saw you kiss him."

"Yes, but it's not what you think."

"When is a kiss not a kiss?"

"When it is a friendly peck on the cheek. Now listen to me. This is what really happened..."

Jennifer crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Laura.

"Dusty and I were going to the gate room when we heard the three Marines that are with us today saying some rather vulgar things about you. I won't repeat them, so don't ask. We then heard Rodney confronting them. Dusty and I backed Rodney up and I was so impressed that Rodney could be that protective of you that I kissed him on the cheek. That's it. I swear. A simple kiss on the cheek."

"You expect me to believe that Rodney stood up to three Marines _with guns_ that are all much bigger than him to _defend my honor_? You need to come up with a better story." Jennifer could not believe Laura would spin such a story. _Why didn't she just tell the truth?_

"If you don't believe me, ask Rodney."

"Sure, the next time I see him; I'll walk up and say, 'Hey, Rodney, did you defend my honor in front of three big Marines this morning?"

"Of course I did." Came a voice from behind Jennifer.

Jennifer's heart dropped. Her eyes opened as wide as dinner plates. She looked a Laura who was looking past Jennifer. She swallowed as her mouth got dry and her stomach threatened to push her breakfast back up.

"I think I'll leave the two of you alone for a while. I think you have plenty to talk about." The grin on Laura's face was so wide it really did stretch from ear to ear. She walked by Jennifer, patting her on the shoulder.

"Rodney, I'll leave her in your capable hands." Laura's laughter fading as she left the alleyway.

**

* * *

A/N I need to warn you that it might take a few days to get the next chapter right, so I apologize in advance.**


	4. Revelation

**A/N:** This didn't take as long as I thought it would. I hope it works for everyone.

* * *

John and Rodney walked quickly to the village from the jumper after their confrontation. John actually had to hurry a few times to keep up with Rodney. The Colonel could not help smiling. He was really happy that Rodney appeared as if he was going to do something about his feelings for Jennifer.

"Ah, there you are," Karric called out as they approached. They had walked into the town square at the end of the main street. Buildings lined both sides of the street separated by small alleyways.

"Sorry," John said. "We had important mission…stuff to discuss." He noticed Lorne and Ronon close by. They looked at him with some concern as to why they were so late getting to the village. He rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly saying 'Don't ask'.

"Of course," Karric smiled broadly and looked expectantly at Rodney. "Doctor McKay, I cannot tell you, again, how honored we are to have someone like you in our village. Mr. Woolsey spoke so highly of you."

In the past, this type of flattery would make Rodney perk up and start acting superior. It was not the case this time. Rodney was looking around the village and did not seem to even hear what Karric was saying. "Yes, yes. I'll get to your devices. I just need to…um…have… something checked out. A small injury…" He was turning around and looking all over for the medical clinic.

"Our medical clinic is located near the edge of town the way you came," Karric said. He suddenly looked worried. "I hope your injury is not too severe."

"No, no…only minor…just take a few minutes to fix it." Rodney had turned and headed back down the street.

Ronon and Lorne both looked at John with puzzled expressions.

"Don't ask," was all John offered as he followed Rodney. "We'll be back soon, Karric." He called over his shoulder jogging to catch up with Rodney.

"Rodney, when I said you can spend some time with your girlfriend I didn't mean as soon as we got here. You _do _have to look at these artifacts that Karric has. Woolsey committed you to doing it." John said.

"I realized that if **you** didn't upset Jennifer last night someone else did. I need to get to the bottom of it. She was angry this morning and she's never angry."

"I guess I can give you ten or fifteen minutes to make sure that Jennifer is okay." John realized he had no choice in the matter, but it made him feel like he was in charge to say it. "Wonder what those two are up to?"

They saw Laura Cadman and Jennifer exiting a building that must be the clinic ahead of them on the right. The girls were headed toward the edge of town and turned to the right behind a building that looked like a barn.

When the teammates got to the alley, they heard raised female voices. They stopped near the front of the alley and saw Laura and Jennifer facing each other near the other end. Jennifer's back was toward the street. Not wanting to be seen, they backed up and listened.

"_You don't remember doing anything this morning that might upset me? Nothing that might be seen as a betrayal? A violation of trust?" _

"_I didn't see you this morning until we got to the gate room."_

"_Yeah, you didn't see me until you got to the gate room, but I saw you." _

"_You saw me before we got to the gate room. So what, I didn't do any….." Laughter begins._

"_What the hell's so funny?" _

"_You think..."more laughter, "you must have seen…" _

"_Yea, I saw. How could you do this to me? Stop laughing! I confided in you. I haven't told anyone, but you. Not Lorne or Zelenka or Dusty or Teyla. No one but my supposed best friend."_

John and Rodney both had raised eyebrows as the looked at each other.

"_Hell hath no fury…" _

"_How could you, Laura? You know I've been crazy about Rodney since I met him. I can't believe that you would ignore him all these years and then when someone comes along that…that… really loves him for who he is. You would then decide it was time to make your move!"_

"_Jennifer, calm down. You have this soooo wrong." _

"_I saw you kiss him." _

"_Yes, but it's not what you think."_

_"When is a kiss not a kiss?"_

"_When it is a friendly peck on the cheek. Now listen to me. This is what really happened... Dusty and I were going to the gate room when we heard the three marines that are with us today saying some rather vulgar things about you. I won't repeat them, so don't ask. We then heard Rodney confronting them. Dusty and I backed Rodney up and dressed them down. I was so impressed that Rodney could be that protective of you that I kissed him on the cheek. That's it. I swear. A simple kiss on the cheek." _

John had heard enough. He mouthed "I'm impressed" to Rodney, who stood as still as a statue. John playfully punched him in the arm and walked away with a big grin. He would give Rodney thirty minutes before he pulled him back to the mission at hand, which John knew was going to be simple. _All was right in the universe now that McKay and Keller would finally be together._ He felt that he repaid some of his debt to the "other" McKay.

"_You expect me to believe that Rodney stood up to three marines with guns that are all much bigger than him to defend my honor? You need to come up with a better story." _

Rodney could not wait much longer to talk to Jennifer. _Jennifer Keller loved him! _He was both shocked and humbled by this. The arrogant, smug grin he got when he knew he was right and had just proved it spread across his face. He finally walked into the alley making sure Laura could see him but not Jennifer. Laura did not miss a beat.

"_If you don't believe me, ask Rodney."_

"_Sure, the next time I see him; I'll walk up and say, Hey, Rodney, did you defend my honor in front of three big marines this morning?"_

"_Of course I did."_ Rodney could keep quiet no longer.

"_I think I'll leave the two of you alone for a while. I think you have plenty to talk about." _

"_Rodney, I'll leave her in your capable hands." _

* * *

Rodney and Jennifer stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Jennifer would not turn around. She was terrified of what Rodney might have heard._ How long was he there? The way Laura acted; it must have been a while. Did he hear her confession of love? What would he do?_

"How long were you there?" she said slightly louder than a whisper.

"Long enough to hear that **you love me**." Rodney's voice sounded closer behind her than before.

"Well, you know Cadman. She can make you so…so… crazy. You'd say almost anything to get at her. I'm sure I exaggerated some of what I said." _Way to go, Jennifer. What a rotten liar._

"I really hope not because I'm in love with you. I have been for some time now."

Rodney could not believe he just said that. _Where was all this new-found confidence with Jennifer coming from?_ It must have been her revelation that gave him the courage to bear his heart. _Is this what it means to be in love?_ He never felt this way with Katie. He reached out to touch Jennifer's shoulder and turn her around to face him when she started turning.

Jennifer turned to face Rodney. _Did he just say he loved her?_ She had waited almost two years for this moment to come and she was suddenly terrified.

The astrophysicist had a big, arrogant, smug grin on his face, his eyes were twinkling and his chin was jutted out slightly. _His lips are curled up into that smirk-y smile that drives me nuts. _Jennifer was quite certain his chest was puffed up. Before she could say anything more, Rodney suddenly reached out to cradle her face in his hands and kiss her.

Rodney could not stop himself any longer. As soon as Jennifer faced him and he saw the fear and trepidation on her face, he knew he needed to take action. Jennifer looked nervous and doubtful about the truth of his words. The last thing he wanted was for her to doubt his feelings. The only way he could think of to remove any doubt was to kiss her. He had a few selfish reasons for kissing her, as well, but he felt better telling himself this was for **her** benefit.

It started as a gentle first kiss, but deepened quickly into an outpouring of the love they had for each other. It was a love that had been held back for so long that once loosed, it took on a life of its own. They were powerless to stop it.

Jennifer slid her arms around Rodney's shoulders to pull him closer and to keep herself upright because her legs were going to fail her at any second. Rodney slid one hand into her hair and the other slid down her back to pull her closer. Their bodies fit together perfectly as he always imagined they would. They continued the exploration of each others mouths for what felt like an eternity.

Rodney finally pulled back because he was getting light-headed and did not think he could remain upright let alone support Jennifer for much longer. As soon as he saw her face, his broke into another grin. Jennifer's face was flushed and her lips were swollen from the long, deep kiss. She was breathing heavy like Rodney.

"Don't get too cocky, McKay." Jennifer finally found her voice, which was deeper and breathless.

"Can't help it. You're in love with me." Rodney swooped back down quickly to kiss her again. He suddenly did not care about being light-headed as long as he passed out in Jennifer's arms. Not long after that thought passed through his brain, he suddenly felt a shock pass through his body like he had touched a live electrical wire. After the intense pain subsided, he felt nothing.

* * *

**A/N: **The adventures of Rodney and Jennifer will continue.


	5. Capture

Spoilers: Duet

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John paused a short distance away from the alley to wait for Lieutenant Cadman. He was a little concerned about how she would react. He was not really sure about her feelings toward Rodney. They fought like cats and dogs, but sometimes that hides an attraction. The last thing he needed was a lover's triangle on his hands. When he saw Laura exit the alley with tears of laughter running down her face, he felt a little better.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Fine, sir. It's not often I get to be smarter than two geniuses, sir." Laura was still chuckling and wiping her eyes.

"They really are something," John added. He'd never seen a man so in love with a woman as Rodney was with Jennifer, yet totally paralyzed to act on it.

"They're going to make a great couple. Jennifer needs someone to make sure she takes care of herself and to boost her confidence. Rodney needs someone to keep him from making an ass of himself. They are just perfect for each other, sir." Laura looked genuinely happy.

"You're not…" John wasn't sure how to put it, but he needed to eliminate his concern, "I mean you were in McKay's head for a few days. You must feel some type of bond with him."

"I have never nor will ever be interested in McKay as more than an annoying older brother, sir." Laura was flattered that her CO would be that concerned about her feelings.

"Good." John knew Laura to be brutally honest, so he dropped his concern.

"Colonel Sheppard?" the voice of Major Lorne sounded in his ear.

"Go ahead, Major."

"Karric wants to know if Doctor McKay is alright and when he will be back, sir."

John smirked. _Rodney was going to be more than alright from now on. _"Tell Karric that McKay will get to his precious little artifacts in about half an hour. He needs to be…treated…by Doctor Keller for a while."

Laura was trying hard not to laugh as she caught the Colonel's smirk. She understood he had to be careful because none of them knew how Evan would take this. He was extremely protective of Jennifer and had multiple run-ins with Rodney. Rodney was not one of Evan's favorite people. He could not get past Rodney's constant complaining and whining. Evan Lorne was a man who said what he meant and meant what he said. He was intelligent and could not stand being talked down to. All of these characteristics usually put him at odds with the resident super genius. Laura shook her head. She was quite certain that Jennifer would be defending Rodney to Evan a lot.

"We should get back to the others," John said as he started walking back toward the center of town.

"I should stay near Jennifer, sir." Laura added as she leaned against the building. "Major Lorne's orders."

"Alright. They get half an hour and then you need to break them up."

"Eww. Sir, what if…I mean…They might be in the middle of…" Laura looked like she might be ill. "I know I resided in Rodney's body, but I really don't want to…"

John started laughing. "Call them on the radio or shout around the corner."

As John began to turn from Laura toward the center of town, he thought he saw a flash of green light to his left behind a building on the far side of the street.

"Did you see that, Lieutenant?" he raised his P90 and headed across the street toward what looked like a house.

"What was it, sir?" Laura raised her gun and followed her CO across the street taking a position behind him on his right. Her eyes were darting up to the buildings and even higher to the mountains that butted against the town.

"Major Lorne, this is Lieutenant Cadman, the Colonel and I are checking out a strange flash of light behind a building across from the medical clinic."

"I'll send some back-up. Watts and Huston?" Lorne's voice crackled through the head sets. "Watts and Huston?"

Evan Lorne turned to Ronon and Sergeant Sanchez. "Have you seen Watts or Huston lately?"

"They were helping the med techs load up the infirmary the last time I saw them, sir." Sanchez responded pulling his P90 into both hands and turning around.

"Karric, have you seen…" Lorne stopped speaking. Karric was no longer behind them. As a matter of fact, no one from the village was anywhere around. _When did that happen? _"Ronon, when did the locals disappear?"

Ronon was internally swearing at himself. He got so upset when he saw Rodney head off immediately to find Jennifer that he was not paying much attention. He still could not believe that McKay ended up being the "best man". _How did he end up alienating Jennifer on the Daedalus?_ As these thoughts raced through his head, he lost track of their hosts.

He pulled his gun out and began jogging down the street toward the building that Sheppard and Cadman were approaching. It was up the street on the left from his current position. The ex-Runner was not paying attention to the fact that he was out in the open.

"Ronon!" Evan yelled. What was he doing?

"Sanchez, follow me!" Evan ran toward a monument in the center of the square. It was not too tall, but it would provide some cover. Evan had the feeling they were being watched by unfriendly eyes all of a sudden.

A yell sounded from behind Evan. He had just reached the monument and crouched down as he turned to look back. Sanchez had fallen face first into the dirt several paces behind Evan.

"Sanchez!" Evan called out as he looked for the shooter that hit Sanchez. There were several multi-story buildings that could contain the shooter.

" Huston! Watts! Respond." Evan tried the other marines. _This was going very wrong, very fast. _

John's back was pressed against the wall in front of the building he and Cadman were going to check out. Laura was pressed up against the wall on the next building to John's left. Suddenly, a green flash came from the second floor of a building towards the center of town to John's right. The green blast hit Ronon as he ran toward John's position. The Satedan fell to his knees in the center of the street dropping his gun. Another blast hit him, making him fall completely to the ground.

"Ronon!" John yelled. _How did this go to hell so fast?_ "Lieutenant, get McKay and Keller!"

Laura tried to keep low and close to the buildings as she moved back to get across from the alley where she left Rodney and Jennifer.

Once Cadman was across the street from the alley, she did not see anyone.

"They're not there, sir!" The Lieutenant yelled into her radio. If anything happened to them, she would never forgive herself. "McKay! Keller! Answer your radios!"

_They must have wandered off,_ John hoped. "Major, where are the other marines? I saw a shot come from the building two houses toward the center of town from my current position."

"Sanchez got hit by one of those blasts, sir. I'm positioned near the center of town behind some stone monument. I can't raise the others." His voice was surprisingly calm for the situation they found themselves in. John appreciated that about his second in command.

The Colonel tried to get his mind around the situation. Cadman was near the edge of town to his left huddled against a building. Ronon lay in the street hit by one of the green blasts. Lorne and the Sanchez, who was also down, were in the center of town. He was mid-way along the street trying to stay hidden in the shadows of the buildings. The other two marines were missing along with McKay and Keller. _So much for a simple away mission._

"Lieutenant, try working your way back to the edge of town see if you can find and secure McKay and Keller. Go!

"Yes, sir!" Laura was glad to have a mission. She blocked out the fact that she might have failed her friend and concentrated on being invisible as she moved along the buildings toward the edge of town.

John started heading toward the center of town and Lorne's position. He saw a couple of green blasts shoot at the large stone monument in the center of the square. John saw Sanchez's body lying on the ground near the monument.

"Colonel Sheppard!" A voice rang out through the square. The green flashes aimed at Lorne stopped. "I need you two to lay down your weapons if you do not wish any harm to come to the others."

"I don't think so," John yelled. He then saw a movement near the far left corner of the square. Two men who looked like the villagers were dragging a figure between them. They were moving out of the shadow of a large building. John raised his P90 to take aim. Another figure emerged from the shadows next to them. This figure had a dark brown robe and a hood pulled over his head. He was carrying a P90.

"You are trying my patience." The voice continued echoing through the square. John was certain the cloaked figure was talking because he moved in front of the others and aimed the P90 at the head of the person being held up. As they moved into the light, John saw golden hair reflected in the sunlight.

"I do not wish to harm the lovely doctor, yet." The voice continued. "I have much planned for her."

"You touch her and you have no chance of getting out of this alive." John could not allow anything to happen to Jennifer. His mind was racing to find a solution.

"I am in control of this situation, Colonel. Now lay down your weapons and you will not be harmed."

"Somehow I don't believe you." John shot back. The longer he could keep him talking, the better. He just hoped Cadman got away.

"Bring him."

Two more figures emerged with another unconscious person being dragged between them. It was one of the medical technicians.

"Okay! Okay! Let's not do anything we'll regret." John had a real bad feeling about what was going to happen.

The figure swung the P90 to his left where the med tech was and pulled the trigger.

"No!" John screamed and closed his eyes. How many innocents was he responsible for killing?

"I've got a few more before I need to kill Doctor Keller. Perhaps you will reconsider?"

"Major, throw down your weapon and surrender!" John ordered. He tossed his P90 out in front of him and put his hand up. He would have to find a way to escape. He could not let anyone else die.

"Very good, Colonel."

Several figures came out of the buildings around the square. They were holding P90s and the other weapons John's men just brought up. They surrounded John and guided him toward Evan in the center of town. John noticed that Evan's eyes did not leave Jennifer as the figures continued to hold her unconscious form up. John noticed several men dragging Ronon toward them, which meant he was only stunned and still alive.

"You took longer than I would have hoped for you to comply." The figure moved toward John.

"Always happy to disappoint."

"I know your kind, Colonel. And I know how to break them." The figure began to laugh and turn away from Sheppard. He raised the P90 again and shot Sanchez where he lie on the ground.

"You son-of-a…" John started to charge toward the figure only to be hit by a blast that knocked him out.


	6. United

A/N:I wasn't sure if I should publish this as is or keep going with the story. I took the advice of my Beta, Hal Cooper, and am putting it out as is. Please let me know what you think.

* * *

The first thing Rodney became aware of was the pain in his arms and shoulders. The second thing was that his arms were not holding Jennifer. This made his eyes snap open as he saw only darkness.

"Jennifer?" he called. _Where was she?_

He was seated on the floor with his legs out in front of him, his hands were hooked together behind him with some type of handcuff and his arms were wrapped around a column. He tugged but could not move them much. The rest of his body was numb and he knew from experience that he had been hit by a stunner. The physicist shakily pushed himself into a standing position, circled around to see what might be behind him and saw only darkness. As his eyes began to grow accustomed to the darkness, he noticed a faint glow on the wall. The more he concentrated on it, the more it looked like a door mechanism from Atlantis. _Could he be in the Ancient temple Jennifer told him about?_

"Jennifer?" he called out again trying to keep the panic out of his voice. _What happened to her? If they hurt her_...he did not want to finish that train of thought. He could not imagine life without Jennifer now that he knew she loved him.

_If only I had a bunch of Ronon's knives up my sleeve, I could try to pick the lock on the handcuffs_. He heard a noise outside the door to his cell and tensed up preparing for the worse: Wraith, Genii, or insane locals bent on human sacrifice. The door opened letting light in from the corridor to momentarily blind him.

"Rodney!" Jennifer yelled as she ran forward and wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I was so scared. Are you okay?"

"What…how…" Rodney was stunned. _What was Jennifer doing here?_

"Are you hurt?" Jennifer asked. Her eyes searched his face for any sign of injury. She moved her hands over his shoulders and down his upper arms.

"I…Are you okay?" Rodney still could not get his mind around the fact that Jennifer was here and appeared unharmed.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm sure you'd rather be elsewhere, but I'm really happy I wasn't kidnapped alone."

"Jen! The door!" Rodney yelled. Jennifer turned around but it was too late. The door shut and extinguished the light.

"I'm sorry Rodney. I'm so happy to see you. I forgot about the door."

"We could have used the light." Rodney could not really be mad at her. Somehow she had escaped from wherever she was being held and got into his cell.

"Don't you have a flashlight in your Tac vest?"

"I don't know. I think there should be one. I only know my power bars are in my upper right pocket and my scanner and electronic testing equipment is in the lower right." Rodney realized he never really touched anything else in his vest. He had been yelled at repeatedly by Sheppard and Lorne for not packing it with the proper supplies.

"You don't know? You've been on Sheppard's team for 5 years. You're supposed to fill these after every mission," Jennifer scolded. Rodney felt Jennifer's hands slide across his chest and he heard the sound of Velcro being pulled apart

"Found it!" Jennifer said triumphantly as a bright light was turned on.

"Great. I wonder what else is in there?"

Jennifer was shining the light around the room to look at their surroundings. The room looked like it was made of smooth rock. Directly in front of Rodney was the door with an Ancient device on it. There was nothing else in the room except two more columns like the one he was tied to. Jennifer moved behind him to look at his handcuffs.

"Hopefully, you'll have something in your vest to remove these cuffs." Jennifer moved back in front and shined the light on Rodney's vest. She began to open more pockets.

"Jennifer, how did you get out of your cell and find me?" Rodney finally asked.

"I hot-wired the door mechanism and..." Jennifer said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Jackpot!"

She finally found a Swiss Army knife and held it up for Rodney to see.

"How did that get there?" Rodney asked. "Wait! Did you say you hot-wired the door?"

"You sound surprised. I am a fellow genius, you know." Jennifer had moved behind Rodney to see if she could loosen the handcuffs. She tried to sound annoyed, but it was hard to do because she could not stop smiling. "Well… If you remember, shortly after I arrived, I tried to ask you some questions about your work, but you dismissed me as some type of "dumb, blonde, **medical** doctor who could **never** understand physics…"

"Jennifer," Rodney groaned as he interrupted Jennifer. Shame and humiliation returned as he remembered that conversation. "I thought we agreed never to discuss …"

"It really was not a shining moment in our relationship, was it?" Jennifer chuckled as she saved him from his regrets. "Anyway, after you rejected my **advances**, I decided to find someone else that would appreciate my curiosity."

Rodney banged his head back against the column a little harder than was necessary. "Ouch. Please don't tell me…"

"Yes, Radek has been my tutor on Ancient Tech for almost two years now. It works great since neither of us has the ATA gene. Do you realize how smart Radek is to make things work without the gene?" She knew the competition between Rodney and Radek was extremely intense. She chuckled as she knew this would just add to it.

"Stop! This is torture! You mean I could have spent evenings alone with you showing you my work and instead you were spending them with Radek?"

"Yup." Jennifer was very glad Rodney was with her. She always talked a lot when she was nervous and this bantering kept her calm. It seemed to be working to keep Rodney calm as well considering he was tied up.

"That's it! Radek is fired as your tutor. I will not allow my girlfriend to hang out with ..."

"You will not allow? Going kind of Caveman, aren't we?" Jennifer tried to sound angry.

"That's right. I've waited my whole life for a woman like you. I'm not sharing you with anyone." Rodney was quite upset with Radek for never mentioning that Jennifer was one of his students. He knew that Radek loved to teach and allowed him to run some basic "classes" for new recruits and other interested parties.

"I hope you're joking because I'm not dumping my friends for you." Jennifer came back around in front of him and shined the light up so she could see his face without blinding him.

"I will take over your education in Ancient Tech. You and Radek will then have nothing to discuss anymore." Rodney tried, but failed, to keep from smiling as the beautiful face of the woman he loved came into view. He wanted to reach out and pull her to him. He had to admit he was impressed that she was holding herself together so well.

"We can still talk about hockey or play chess."

"Hockey! You like hockey! You…you play chess, too!" Rodney was stunned. He and Jennifer spent a lot of time together, but he never remembered anything about her liking hockey or learning about ancient technology or playing chess. _What else didn't he know about her?_

"Hello, I'm from Wisconsin?"

"What else have you been holding back all these years?"

"Enough to keep you interested for quite a while." Jennifer had a wicked grin on her face. "Now…as much as I'd love to continue this conversation, I need to work on a plan to get you free. I can't do anything with the Swiss army knife."

Jennifer sadly shook her head as she help up the knife, which was now quite bent. Rodney was trying to think of something. He needed to be free. If someone came in, he would not be able to defend her. Perhaps, he should send Jennifer out to find some other tools. _No that's too dangerous._ He knew it would kill him if she was hurt or taken from him again.

"If we can't free your hands from the cuffs," Jennifer said as she slowly walked around the column, shining the light up and down it. "We might be able to free your arms from the column."

"What?" Rodney turned his head toward Jennifer.

"This column appears to be made of wood and it does not seem to be attached to the floor or the ceiling. It also seems to be rotting at the base. I bet we could push at it so it slides away and then you could slide your arms off." Jennifer kicked at it and some chunks of wood broke off.

"And have the ceiling collapse on us." Rodney thought Jennifer's _plan_ was a terrible idea.

"It does not appear to be supporting anything. None of them do. Look." Jennifer shined the light on the other columns in the room so Rodney could see.

"And where did you get your degree in structural engineering?" Rodney tried to keep some of the sarcasm out of his voice, but failed.

"Same place as you, Doctor McKay."

"At least one of mine is in engineering."

"Yeah, Mechanical is _sooo _like Structural." Jennifer did not think Rodney would like the plan, but they had to try something. She knew it would not be long before someone noticed she was missing or came to interrogate Rodney. "Just push with your legs as hard as you can and I'll push too."

"Jennifer, we need to come up with a better plan." Rodney knew she was trying but this would not work.

"Well, I can hot-wire the door and go look for something to take the cuffs off with." Jennifer offered. She did not really want to be out in the corridor alone again. She only found Rodney by chance because the device on his door was lit up like hers. She assumed that meant someone was in the cell.

"No! We stay together." Rodney said with a tone of finality regarding the issue._ She could not be out there alone. _They would have to give this a try and hope the ceiling did not come down on them.

"Well. It looks like my plan is a go unless you've got something else?" Jennifer questioned as she looked into Rodney's face with her eyebrows raised.

"All right! We'll give it a try, but you need to kiss me first in case the ceiling caves in and kills us."

"I think I can oblige," Jennifer said with a smile as she slid her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. She really hoped this would work because she would never be able to live it down if the ceiling collapsed and they did not die.

TBC


	7. Escape Part 1

**A/N:** Thanks to JperW and Hal Cooper for their beta work. Their hard work is what took so long to keep the story going.

Thanks for your patience.

* * *

Rodney's shoulders and arms hurt just being wrapped around the pole, but once he began pushing on the column, the pain became almost unbearable. His back was going to be a serious mess for quite some time. After what seemed like an eternity of pushing, Jennifer said she needed to rest and slumped down on the floor leaning against the column breathing heavily. Rodney slid down next to her. The column was tilted and more importantly, the ceiling had not collapsed.

In the dim light from the flashlight, Jennifer looked exhausted. She slumped against Rodney with her eyes shut. Most of her hair had escaped from her pony tail framing her face, which was covered with sweat and dirt. As Rodney looked at the woman he loved, a wave of protectiveness washed over him.

"Jennifer?" Rodney said softly as he nudged her with his shoulder. "Jennifer?"

"Hmm." She sat up and looked into Rodney's face, which mirrored the exhaustion on her own. The doctor smiled and lifted her right hand to touch his cheek. The physicist leaned his head into her hand and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Jennifer…" Rodney began, but Jennifer leaned over and pressed her lips to his mouth. She could not believe he was not complaining because the pushing had to be hurting his back.

"Rodney, I'm so proud of you. You're the one who's doing most of the work and _amazingly_ not complaining." She offered him a sly grin. "When we get back, I owe you the best massage you ever had."

"Really?" Rodney could not keep the surprise out of his voice. He now had even more to look forward to.

"You're really holding yourself together, too. I know you've had quite a few of these…um…bad…I mean…"Jennifer's smile faded and Rodney realized he put his foot in his mouth. Jennifer needed encouragement, not to be reminded of past weakness. "I mean to say..."

"Rodney, it's okay. I know I'm useless in these situations." She spoke with such certainty that it broke Rodney's heart. He wanted to pull her into his arms and vowed that he would never let her doubt her abilities again.

"Well, I don't! You've been great. You escaped from your cell, hot-wired the door, found a way into my cell, which you never explained, by the way and thought up this plan, which is working." Rodney spoke with great pride in his voice. Pride normally reserved only for his own achievements. Just to say it out loud made him realize even more how much she had done. He really loved this woman. The scientist nudged her with his shoulder because she had turned away from him and stared at the ground between her feet. "When we get out of this, I'm taking you on the best first date ever."

"Really? What do you have in mind?" Jennifer had a full smile on her face.

Suddenly, Rodney felt strong enough to tear the column down with his bare hands. He raised his eyebrows with a sneaky grin forming. "You'll just have to wait and see, but I'll be sure to work my massage into it somehow. Now, let's get out of here!"

Rodney slid himself back into a standing position, so he could leverage his legs to push at the column. Jennifer got up, gave him a quick kiss and put her shoulder into the column as well. "On three. One. Two. Three."

Rodney and Jennifer pushed with all their might and the column moved a little further.

"Rodney!" Jennifer yelled as she looked up to see the column losing contact with the ceiling. Rodney looked at her with the beginnings of a smile forming on his face, only to have it replaced by terror as the column toppled over pulling Rodney down with it.

"Ahhhh!" Rodney screamed as the column collapsed on his left arm. Jennifer fell on top of him because she was holding onto his vest to keep him upright.

"Oh no, your arm! I didn't think about what would happen when it got loose." By the grimace on his face, she feared his left arm had been crushed under the column, but to her amazement, Rodney did not utter any complaints. He moaned and clenched his eyes and mouth shut.

After a few minutes of excruciating pain, Rodney was finally freed and Jennifer helped him to slide his arms off the column. She rolled him onto his right side to check his arm.

"I know it hurts, but I have to see where it's broken." Jennifer tried to turn into '_the doctor'_, but was unable to detach herself for this was the man she loved. Tears stung her eyes as she saw where the metal cuffs cut into Rodney's wrists and blood was running onto his hands. She began to examine his arm.

Rodney wanted to scream when Jennifer gently touched his lower arm. The doctor thought the bones in his forearm were broken, but would not know without an X-ray. They needed to splint his arm and get the cuffs off. "Rodney, I need what medical supplies you have in your vest."

Jennifer helped Rodney into a sitting position. His face was pale and his mouth was clenched tight to hide the pain, which made her feel terrible as her idea caused this. She searched his vest for medical supplies. _There should be a painkiller and a bandage to wrap around the bones._ The doctor only found the painkiller. _How could he not have everything he needed in his vest?_ She was angry with Sheppard and Lorne for not _personally_ checking his gear and vowed to do it herself from now on.

"Here, take these." Jennifer took the tablets out, put them in his mouth and he swallowed them dry. "You have swelling in your arm and cuts around your wrist as well. I will not be able to determine if any bones are broken without an X-ray. Anything else hurts?"

Rodney looked at Jennifer's concerned face and shook his head because he was in too much pain to speak.

"Okay." Jennifer pushed herself up from kneeling next to Rodney and grabbed the flashlight. She gave him a quick kiss and walked to the door. "I'll just hot-wire this and get us out of here."

Rodney watched in awe as Jennifer got the panel open, removed a crystal and fumbled around inside with it opening the door. She rushed back to help him stand and move toward the door. The smartest man in two galaxies felt fairly useless. Instead of him getting her to safety, she was rescuing him.

_Sheppard is gonna love this one_, Rodney thought. _When this is over I am going to show Jennifer the best date ever. I'll start with a romantic dinner on one of the secluded balconies of the city. I need to find out her favorite food, so I can get the kitchen staff to make it. They would because everyone loved Jennifer. _That was actually a bit troubling because he'd never been in love with a woman most men would kill for._ I could ask Ronon or Teyla to give me some more hand-to-hand training. Well, probably not Ronon. I'll stick with Teyla or maybe ask Lorne. Evan is very protective of Jennifer and he would probably appreciate I want to be able to take care of her. Yes, I'm going to talk to Lorne when we get back. _

Jennifer led them down the corridor to their left holding Rodney's uninjured arm. She had come from the right and there was nothing there but more cells.

"How are you feeling?" she asked after a while though she was sure nothing had changed.

"Been better." Rodney said through clenched teeth.

Jennifer was getting frustrated because there was nothing but more cells with darkened mechanisms on the door. _Was this some ancient prison? How big was this place?_ She glanced at Rodney and saw the pain all over his face. They had to get the cuffs off and find something to splint his arm with. "Rodney, stay here while I run up ahead to see what's there. I won't be gone long."

"No!" Rodney growled. "We stay together. I can't lose you."

Jennifer looked up at him and tears filled her eyes. "I'm sorry this happened, Rodney. This is not how our mission was supposed to go or how I wanted to tell you that I love you."

"Jen..." Rodney felt helpless; a feeling he hated. "It's _not_ your fault and we **will** get out of here. Nobody's gotten the best of Doctor Rodney McKay in two galaxies yet and I don't plan on letting that change."

Jennifer slid her arms around his waist for a quick hug and Rodney pressed a kiss against her head. When they suddenly heard noises ahead of them, Jennifer pushed Rodney into a shadowed alcove. They both listened closely to make out what the sounds were. It was muffled, but seemed to be voices.

Jennifer held her breath once she recognized the sounds of voices. _Perhaps they were getting closer to the surface?_ Once they get out, they only needed to find the others and go home. Jennifer thought for the first time about everyone else. _Were they captured, too? Of course not, they were soldiers, but what about the two technicians, Tony Meeks and Douglas Bryce. If anything happened to them, she would never be able to forgive herself. She never should have wandered off with Laura, but then she never would have had the conversation with Rodney._

"Let's move!" Rodney's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. He pushed her with his body to get her moving down the corridor, so they could follow the fading voices.

After a short distance, they noticed a larger gray door, which was different from all the others they had encountered. Jennifer carefully approached the door and it slid open. They listened for sounds coming from the room, but other than a low humming, there was nothing. Jennifer entered the room.

"Jennifer!" Rodney hissed. He tried to move his arms as if to grab her before he realized they were still tied behind his back. "Arh!"

"Rodney, what are you doing?" Jennifer turned, grabbed Rodney's arm and pulled him into the room. He was clenching his eyes and his jaw shut again. _I've got to help him_. She looked around the room and it appeared her luck had changed because this was a medical facility as several 'hospital' beds stood against the walls and in the center were the crates from Atlantis. There were doors on the left and a couple of large chambers at the back of the room.

Jennifer helped Rodney onto one of the beds and ran back to the door to remove the crystals, so no one could open it. She then turned her attention to the supplies, originally intended for the villagers. The Atlantis' CMO was upset these supplies were now in the hands of an enemy, when they could be used elsewhere. However, there was nothing she could do at the moment, so she tore through the boxes looking for a particular item.

"Yes!" Jennifer yelled when she pulled out a small gas cylinder.

Rodney looked a little uncertain as Jennifer approached him with the cylinder. "What's that?"

"This is going to get you out of those cuffs." A_t least I hope_, but Jennifer did not say that aloud. "The canister contains liquid nitrogen for freezing samples. I'll freeze the cuffs and break them off."

"What about my hands?" Rodney was quite certain he liked this plan even less than pushing the column over. He had seen movies with people's hands breaking off when frozen with liquid nitrogen.

"Don't worry; I won't get it on your hands."

"I don't like **this** plan!"

"At least you sound better. You're not stuttering any more. The pain killer must be kicking in." Jennifer noticed some color in his face. Evan and Laura were right about one thing; it took fear of death or serious injury to give McKay strength. Jennifer could not help but smile.

"It's the **concern** that I'll have **no** hands that is overriding my pain. There has to be something else in here." Rodney dropped off the bed and groaned in pain because moving his arm hurt like hell.

"Rodney, get back in bed!" Jennifer used '_the_ d_octor'_ voice and it worked. Rodney stopped and turned back to her. "You are my patient and **I** am calling the shots here. Now, get on the bed. I'll wrap some bandages around your hands to protect them. Then I'll dump some liquid nitrogen on the metal and crack it with the base of the cylinder."

Rodney stared for a moment and moved toward the bed. He could not remember the last time she yelled at him like this and decided to comply with her, again. His brain never seemed to come up with a better plan when she was around. "Okay. Let's see if your string of good luck holds out."

"Good luck?" Jennifer asked incredulously as she took some bandages to wrap around his hands.

"Yes, _good_ luck. You were not tied up, you found my cell, the ceiling did not collapse, I could have worse injuries than a broken arm, and…" Rodney paused, turned his head to see her behind him and smiled a sly smirk, "I now know you love me."

* * *

TBC


	8. Cadman's Encounter

**A/N: Sorry it took so long. Thanks to JperW and Hal Cooper for their Beta work.**

**I rewrote some of Chapter 5, so it will make sense with Chapter 8. Please re-read.**

**

* * *

Earlier in the day: **

Lieutenant Laura Cadman wanted to run back into town screaming. She clutched her binoculars with a white-knuckled hold as she saw the villagers dragging two people into the square. She was too far outside of town and up the mountain-side behind the buildings to hear what was being said. Once they got out of the shadows with their victims, Laura recognized Jennifer's blond hair and Meeks, the young technician who had been flirting with her in the make-shift infirmary.

A gunshot from a P90 echoed through the valley. Laura gasped. _Those bastards! I'll kill them all! Just give me a little C4 and I'll level this place. _Meeks had been shot! Faced with the possibility of a dead Jennifer Keller, Major Lorne and Colonel Sheppard came out of hiding and surrendered. An infuriated growl escaped from Laura when the villagers dropped the technician's body like a sack of garbage in a puddle of mud.

Laura had always wanted to be a Marine. The Lieutenant had never wanted anything else. However her mother wanted her daughter to be a _girl_ and Laura had been forced to take dancing lessons. The rebellious child took up tap dancing and drove her parents to the brink of madness with the tap, tap-tap, tap and more tapping over their bedroom every night. It had been a way to exert her independence. This particular memory only popped into her head when she was about to disobey an order. _I need to go back and save them._

When she wanted to get up from her hide-out, she heard another shot. Laura put the binoculars back to her eyes and scanned the square. Jennifer was still between two villagers, the Major and the Colonel got hit by a green blast from behind, Ronon was dragged away and the body of a marine lay on the ground. She realized that Sergeant Sanchez had been shot. _They shot a man who was already down. They are no better than the Wraith or the Genii. _The men nearby turned and walked away.

The tap-dancing explosives' expert did not care about politics or treaties, but she _did_ care about loyalty and friendship. These people had violated their trust, harmed her friends and killed Meeks and Sanchez. None were acceptable and would lead to retaliation.

_Get a grip! You can't go running back there._ _Think, think, think. Your best friend is a genius. What would Jennifer do? Or, for that matter, what would Rodney do? _Laura's throat tightened in desperation as she realized the two geniuses had been captured. _Probably when they had snuck off for a romantic interlude in the woods._ Laura could not help but chuckle. She knew Jennifer well and the time inside Rodney's head had given her a brief glimpse at the passionate man hidden behind the _snarky_ attitude_. They are in for a wild ride. _

Something poked the back of Cadman's neck. The lieutenant was still hidden in the bushes, so she tried moving her head to get away from the offending branch. When the branch poked her again and withdrew, she realized someone was poking her with a sharp object. _Oh crap_, she mentally cursed as she rose and slightly adjusted her P90 while removing the safety to use it against her assailant. The sounds of snapping branches and rustling leaves were clearly audible now that she was paying attention. _I am such an idiot! I will never live this one down_.

The agile young marine pivoted on her left leg, dropped into a crouch and pointed her P90 into the stomach of her assailant.

"Back off or I'll kill… you." A young woman, a teenager, holding a crossbow-type weapon gazed back at her, eyes wide open. Several other people with similar primitive weaponry surrounded them and Laura rose to her feet. Arrows and spears could kill, but her P90 would inflict much more damage before they even had time to respond.

The strange group looked like they had just escaped from a refugee camp. Their clothing was ragged and they were covered in dirt. The thin and worn down appearances reminded Laura of the pictures and stories her brothers had brought back from the Middle East._ How did these people get the drop on seasoned soldiers like Colonel Sheppard and me? Easy, none of us expected it._

"Put your weapons down!" Laura shouted hoping that they recognized her superior firepower. The petite lieutenant drew herself up to her full height and barked. "I said put them down!"

"We heard you the first time," a calm deep voice spoke from behind several of the _fighters_.

An older man stepped forward. He had shaggy black hair that was as unkempt as the others and carried a rifle with a rope instead of a strap. This appeared to be the only gun they had.

"Who are you?" The Lieutenant did not lower her P90, but her instincts told her these people were not an immediate threat.

"We need to get away from here before the guards find us." The elder spoke with the authority of a man who expected others to follow.

"What?" Laura blurted out, surprised by his comment. "Aren't **you** the guards? Who are you?" The deep laughter that followed was the final straw for Laura's already battered nerves. Her best friend and team were in terrible danger and this rag-tag group was _pretending_ to hold her hostage. "What's going on here?"

"All will be explained once we get further away from here." The man said with a reassuring smile on his face.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Laura spat and aimed her gun at his head.

"Please," he spoke as if to a child. "We do not have time for this now."

Laura Cadman hated being talked down to and hot anger rose towards her head pulsing through her veins in turn. She snapped, "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me who the hell you are and what happened to my friends!"

Her angry outburst would have given Rodney a run for his money. Shifting on her feet, she felt the need to fire her gun into the ground or air. Never before had she suffered from an itchy trigger finger, but there was always a first time for everything.

"We do **not** have the time. You and your friends down there in the village are in serious danger. If you want to get away you need to come with us." He stepped towards her and beckoned her with his hand. "Keep your weapons if it makes you more comfortable," he shrugged. "Come on!"

To say she was shocked would be an understatement. _Who are these people?_ Laura had not paid much attention to the briefing as she was not even supposed to be on this mission. She had switched with Dusty because her friend had beaten the Major in a sparring match and he owed the Sergeant one 'opt-out' for a mission. Dusty had chosen this one because of the potential for boredom, but Laura would gladly trade places again.

Quickly though quietly they moved through the forest that covered the mountain behind the village. They had been walking for hours and the sun was almost setting when they stopped in a small clearing.

"Rest a few minutes before we continue," said the man, who Laura took to be their leader.

"Then will you tell me what's going on?" Laura had only managed to keep her tongue in check during the walk because she had been concerned about another ambush. Now they had stopped in a clearing that provided an excellent view of the path up the mountain behind them, she relaxed into her usual nature.

"I am Brenner, the leader of the Keyorins and this is all that is left of my people. For decades this valley was our home until the people you met in our village came here two years ago. Their damaged space ship crashed here and they do not appear to know how to repair it. For some time now they've been searching the City of the Ancestors."

"City of the Ancestors?" Laura remembered Jennifer's story about the Ancient ruins from the other night when the doctor asked her for ideas on a way to lure Rodney there. "I thought they were only ruins?"

"There is a large city underneath where we would hide from the Wraith as they do not seem to be able to find us in there." Brenner sat down on some rocks and motioned for one of the young women to bring him a bag. He extracted what looked like an apple and held it out to Laura. "You must be hungry and we still have a couple hours ahead of us before we reach our camp. It is over the cliffs you see behind me."

Laura looked up. The mountain side became rocky a short distance above their current location. _I'm sure glad McKay and Jennifer aren't here_. _Their combined fear of heights would have been unbearable._

"What about my friends that were captured? Two of them were murdered in cold blood." Laura took the apple and bit into it. She knew she needed her strength and did not reckon they would poison her. "What do they want with them?"

"I don't know. They capture some of my people from time to time and take them into the city, but we never saw or heard from any of them again." Brenner shook his head sadly as darkness crept over his face and his eyes glowed with hatred. "My wife and son were taken last spring. I tried to follow them into the City, but got lost in the maze of the tunnels. It was by pure luck that I found my way out."

"So there are a lot of ways in and out?" Laura's mind began to race. Maybe she could return to the jumper and get more weapons and explosives to mount a rescue. Since she could not fly the jumper to the Stargate, she would have to wait for Woolsey to send reinforcements, which would not happen until tomorrow. They were not scheduled to dial-in until tomorrow evening. Laura Cadman hated waiting. _It would be even better if these folks would help._ "You could help me get in. We have powerful weapons..."

"Your weapons won't stop them," Brenner cut her off and shook his head. "They have powerful weapons like yours." Laura gave him a questioning look. "I don't know why they did not use them against you." A tense silence followed and neither of them spoke. "Your people came here on two other occasions and were not taken at that time. Why are _these _people so much more important?"

_Atlantis' heads of Science and Research, Medicine and Military were all three down there_, Laura realized, but she thought it best not to tell Brenner this. "I don't know. There are more soldiers this time; perhaps they want fighters?"

"No, they have plenty of those and they went straight for the two _non_-soldiers first." His green eyes penetrated Laura's pretense and told her he knew she was holding something back. "What's so special about those two?" Brenner inquired watching Laura closely.

Laura only shrugged her shoulders and kept eating. The geniuses were Atlantis' two highest ranking civilians next to Woolsey.

"I guess Karric could be jealous because he wants the woman for himself."

Laura choked, "What!"

"We do have a couple of spies in the village. I was told the last time your people visited Karric could not keep his eyes off the woman, the healer and he was practically clinging to her. Your leader was drugged, but she was not… He must want her for himself."

A wave of nausea passed over her at the thought of something like _that_ happening to Jennifer and her hand instantly reached for the P90 dangling from her vest. Sheppard, Lorne, Ronon and McKay; they would all rather die than allow anyone to hurt Jennifer. _What if they were dead already?_ _I have to do something!_

"I gotta get back." The Lieutenant jumped to her feet and turned to go down the mountainside. Darkness had claimed the village hidden behind the thick forest below.

"There is nothing you can do for them now. You and the others can get out of here if you listen to me." Brenner walked over to her side. He was extremely thin, but still a head taller than Laura.

As she looked at him Cadman could see the sharp bony etches of his sunken face. Obviously they did not have enough to eat and guilt at eating their food settled over her. _What did he just say?_ "What others?"

"Before we met you, my people prevented two of your soldiers patrolling the outskirts of the village from being captured. We took out their attackers, but they wanted to shoot us and we had no choice but to knock them unconscious. My men carried them off and they should be back at the camp already." He turned away. "We must move, _now_."

_Shawn Huston and Tommy Watts were alive._ This was the best news Laura got all day. They were big, dumb jarheads, but they would follow orders.

**

* * *

Present:**

"Lieutenant," Huston and Watts said in unison as they jumped up to salute Cadman when the Lieutenant entered their tent. Seeing the two young marines alive and well gave Laura a much needed adrenaline rush.

"At ease."

"Did they capture you too, ma'am?" Watts asked. The smaller of the two by about fifty pounds had a deep Texas drawl.

"It sure is good to see ya, ma'am," Huston added. Shawn Huston, an African-American from South Carolina, smiled at her.

"The situation, as I can determine, is that Doctors McKay and Keller, Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne and Ronon have been captured by the villagers." Laura paused as to let her words sink in.

"What about Sanchez and the med techs, ma'am?" Watts asked.

"Sergeant Sanchez and Meeks are dead." Laura swallowed the crop in her throat. "I don't know about the other one."

Laura felt terrible because she could not remember his name. _He was from Australia._ Both marines looked upset at the death of their friend, Ramon Sanchez.

"Brenner, the leader of these people," Laura continued her explanation, "told me that his people are the original inhabitants. The others arrived two years ago and are exterminating Brenner's people ever since. Our friends were taken to an underground Ancient city near the village, with several tunnels leading in and out."

Identical grins instantly formed on the marines' faces and they shared an excited understanding look. Laura realized they were following her train of thoughts_. Perhaps they're not as dumb as I thought after all. _She might even go easy on them for talking about Jennifer like she was a piece of meat._ I won't mention it to Lorne._

"In the morning, we'll go to the Jumper, get all the weapons and explosives we can carry and get them the hell out of there."

"Oorah!" The two young marines cheered.

"Let's get some rest to be ready to kick ass in the morning."

* * *

TBC

**A/N:** Reviews are much appreciated.


	9. Escape Part 2

**MGM owns all characters.**

**Spoilers: Nothing specific in this chapter.**

**A/N: I'm sorry it took so long to get back to this story. I've had a bunch of other ones running around in my head. Thanks for your patience.**

**A HUGE thank you to scr1tno for pushing me to get back to this one.**

* * *

After a lot of whining and complaining from the Head of Science and Research and promises of back rubs and home cooked meals by the CMO, Jennifer was finally pouring liquid nitrogen over the metal cuffs behind Rodney's back. The astrophysicist bit down on his lip to keep from whimpering. _I can't look like a total loser in front of her. She's been so brave, I need to be too. _The cold from the liquid nitrogen spread through the metal and Rodney began to feel it in his wrists.

"How are you doing?" Jennifer saw frost forming on the edges of the cuffs and knew the gauze and bandages wrapped around Rodney's hands did not reach far enough under the cuffs to provide protection because he started to groan. _I hope this works._ The doctor raised the canister and brought it down with all the force she could. It cracked the metal.

"It worked!" Jennifer ran around the bed to wrap her arms around Rodney and press a kiss to his lips.

Rodney could barely register Jennifer's kiss because of the excruciating pain shooting up his left arm. Once the cuffs were separated, the damaged limb was no longer supported and fell to the bed. "Argh. Arm!" Rodney almost fell forward into Jennifer.

"Oh, no, I forgot your broken arm," Jennifer was near tears. The physician was so concerned about damaging his skin from the liquid nitrogen that she forgot to support his left arm.

"Here, let me help you lie down." Jennifer maneuvered Rodney into a reclining position on the bed. She took his left arm as gently as possible and laid it down next to him. More whimpering escaped from him. "Please hang on. You can't pass out. I'll never get out of here without you," she begged.

"Don't need…me. Done great…didn't do anything…all you," the astrophysicist managed through clenched teeth.

"I never would have held it together and you know that," the physician said. Turning and running to the crates, Jennifer tore through them until she found painkillers and material to splint his arm. "Rodney, I have something stronger for you to take to kill the pain."

"No!" Rodney growled through clenched teeth. "Need…to…think."

"Rodney, you can't think if you are in serious pain and you know it," she said with her _doctor_ voice. "I need to splint the arm and it will really hurt when I move it."

"No, need clear head." Struggling not to pass out, the injured man took several deep breaths and tried to smile at the woman he loved.

"Let me see if I have some type of local anesthesia." _I really do need him to be alert. It's been incredible luck that I haven't gotten us killed. _"Hold on." Pressing another kiss to his lips, she turned and looked for stronger medicine.

An angry growl from the doctor had McKay turning slightly to see what she was doing. "What's wrong?"

"I'm pissed that we gave all these supplies to our allies and now they're here. I wish I could take them all back."

"Sorry," Rodney mumbled leaning back into the pillow. He could not remember how long ago he left his bed or when he last ate.

"Rodney, I'm going to give you a shot in the arm and then put a splint on it. After that, you should eat and drink something before we figure out how to get out of here."

At the mention of food, Rodney melted and stared at her with adoring eyes. "Have I told you that I loved you?"

"Yes. But I can assure you it will never get old," Jennifer smiled at him and started chuckling. "Now relax so I can fix your arm."

Jennifer gave him a shot, splinted his arm and put it in a sling. Rodney was trying to rest his weary body for a little while. He had to get some strength to be able to help this amazing woman get out of here. When the day began he thought his love for Jennifer was strong. _I was going to fight three heavily armed Marines to defend her._ _Now that I know she loves me, I'll battle the combined Wraith fleet just to hear her laugh._

"I have some power bars and bottled water in my medical pack, which they tossed in here." Unwrapping a bar and handing it to Rodney, Jennifer then took one and jumped up on the bed to sit next to him.

"Can't stay too far away from me, I see," Rodney grinned while taking a bite.

"Anyone ever tell you how arrogant you are?" Jennifer said rolling her eyes.

"Every day."

"Well, I'll be sure to do it twice a day from now on."

"Now that you finally came to your senses and realized how awesome I am, I might allow it."

"You do realize I am a physician and I know a hundred ways to cause you pain?"

"Uh… sure… I was just… you know… joking. Being charming. Like Sheppard," he sputtered and stammered. Fear gripped him as he realized he upset Jennifer. "I'm sorry. You know I suck at this."

Jennifer could not contain her laughter. Watching this over-confident man become so insecure because she appeared angry with him was humbling. _I never had such an affect on someone before. He must really love me and is not just saying the words._

"Oh, I get it. Let the injured man sweat about it. How caring of you?" Rodney tried not to laugh but he did.

Jennifer leaned over for a quick kiss, but Rodney caught her head with his good hand and kissed her thoroughly. Since it was difficult to lean over him and not hurt his injured arm, Jennifer pulled back sooner than she wanted to. "There will be plenty of time for this once we are back on Atlantis. We really need to concentrate on getting out of here and finding the others."

"You're right," McKay sighed and pulled his hand out of her soft hair, which was mostly out of the ponytail by now.

Jennifer hopped off the bed but was still a little light-headed from the kiss causing her to almost fall. Rodney quickly reached out for her with his good arm. "I told you that you couldn't stay away from me."

"When this is over, you and I are going to have a _serious_ conversation about our relationship during that first date you are planning." Jennifer stared intently into Rodney's eyes, but his blue ones did not show any fear this time. _He finally believes that I love him._ Smiling again, Jennifer turned to look at their surroundings. "I know we gave them weapons, but those are probably being kept elsewhere."

"Let's hope they weren't used against our friends," Rodney added.

"Don't suppose you could make a weapon out of anything in here? Hey, what about a defibrillator? It sends out electric current, maybe you could turn it into a TASER?" Jennifer turned to look at McKay with a hopeful expression.

Rodney slowly got down from the bed and walked toward a crate. "I'm not MacGyver you know. I can't make a machine gun out of a straw."

"But you made a cannon out of some pipe in that Genii mine?"

"As I told you then. I had compressed gas, so anything was possible."

"Well, I have two small cylinders of compressed gas, a defibrillator, and a lot of needles and scalpels. You should be able to come up with something. And for the record, I always viewed you as more of a Scotty."

"I'm giving it all she's got, Jennifer," Rodney said in his best Scottish accent.

"Wow. You sound like Carson. That's kinda hot," Jennifer laughed.

"Carson? Hot? What's he got to do with this?"

"I had a huge crush on Carson. Of course I was fifteen when I met him, so that made sense. Over the years it has turned into a different kind of love. He's family, as much as my Dad. When he died… Well, you know what a mess I was." Jennifer trailed off. She had pulled out a small case of surgical tools looking for anything Rodney could use to take apart the defibrillator.

"I know. He felt the same about you. You were both here only a couple weeks and he talked about you like a proud father or older brother. I have to admit I was jealous at first, but…" Rodney never talked about the 'real' Carson's death.

"Well, I was jealous of Katie Brown," Jennifer jumped in. Talking about Carson dying and all the painful memories it brought up was not something she needed on her mind. "Besides, we got Carson back. He's only missing a couple years of memories, so we can't complain."

"Yeah. You're right. Now let me see the defibrillator. If I can do this and it's a big if, it would only work a few times and would need time to recharge between each zaps." Having something to focus on helped Rodney not think about the fact they were trapped in some strange facility or that his arm was probably broken. "I will need your help since I only have one hand."

"Sure anything you want," Jennifer caught herself and glanced at Rodney. Sure enough, he had his eyebrows raised and a seductive smile on his face.

"Hold that thought for later," he said smiling. The painkiller had numbed his arm, so he was not dealing with that particular distraction any longer. The closer he stood to the beautiful doctor an entirely different distraction formed, however.

"Absolutely." Jennifer flirted back to Rodney. "Why does it take horrible situations to make people realize how much they mean to each other?"

"Are you really asking me to answer that?"

"No," Jennifer held the defibrillator down while Rodney removed the casing.

"So what is this about being jealous of Katie Brown. There is no comparison. I mean Katie was really sweet and nice, but she definitely is not in the same league as you."

"What does that mean? You were going to marry her, weren't you?" Jennifer was confused.

"Not really. I don't think I ever would have gone through with it. I was scared. My sister had basically told me Katie was my last shot at happiness, so I better not screw it up."

"What? Remind me to give Jeannie a piece of my mind the next time I see her!" Jennifer was annoyed that the woman thought so little of her brother.

"I'd love to see you and Jeannie fighting over me." Rodney smiled. _How did this wonderful woman ever fall in love with me?_

Jennifer laughed then stopped talking for a while so he could focus on the task at hand. They rigged a way for Rodney to work on the defibrillator with one hand, so Jennifer could look through the supply crates. She began taking medicines and putting them into her medical pack so she could at least rescue something from these people.

"I think I got it, but we won't be able to test it until we run into someone. Unless you would like to be stunned." Rodney turned toward Jennifer.

An impish smile crossed her face. "I already was when you kissed me."

Rodney felt a sense of immense pride at her words and grinned broadly. "We'll have to try that again. But it should wait until we get out of here."

"I'm counting the minutes." Jennifer's own smile broadened.

"All right. Let's get the door opened and hope no one is out there," Rodney walked to the door mechanism still carrying the defibrillator. "I think you will have to carry the defibrillator. You'll need one hand for the paddles and the other to turn it on. I'm not that useful…"

"Rodney, don't say that." Jennifer knew he felt useless with one arm. Reaching up to put her hand on his cheek, she said, "You have kept me going. If you were not here, I would still be cowering in my cell crying my eyes out. Because of you, I had the desire to escape the cell. I love you."

"Let's get out of here." Rodney felt a swell of love for this beautiful woman. He leaned down for a quick kiss and then took the cover off the door mechanism. "Ready?"

Jennifer nodded standing to the side of the door so she could see the corridor when it opened. The young woman felt fear building in her chest. She had shot a man and shot at Wraith, but never was close to someone she hurt. To use the TASER they created, she would need to be pretty close. _I hope I can do this if I need to._

The door opened to reveal an empty hallway. The two scientists breathed audible sighs of relief. They slowly stepped into the silent corridor. When no one jumped out at them, they relaxed and started moving.

After walking for a while, they heard muffled sounds coming from up the corridor. Listening closely, Jennifer thought they sounded like male screams. Sharing horrified looks, they increased their pace.

_What's going on? Who is that?_ Rodney had a dozen thoughts floating in his head. The most prominent one was concern for Jennifer, though. _What are we going to do if we run into armed guards?_ The genius looked down at the woman he loved walking by his side. _You'll step in front of her and die if you have to. _The calmness that settled over him was surprising. He had felt this way only once before and it involved his willingness to die to save Jeannie. The incident with the Genii and Elizabeth was not the same. He truly needed Elizabeth to help with the city. Saving her was a different type of necessity. Saving Jennifer was saving himself because he knew he could not live without her.

Swallowing the lump that suddenly formed in his throat, the scientist whispered, "Jennifer. We need a plan if we meet someone. I should be in front of you so you can... hide behind me to surprise them with the TASER."

"That makes sense, but I don't like the idea of you standing in front of me if they start shooting at us." Jennifer had almost lost Rodney too many times. A shiver went through her as she imagined Rodney crumpling under gunfire in front of her. Stepping closer to him and pulling him down for a kiss, the woman realized she would rather die.

Before the kiss could deepen, as they both wanted it to, the screaming got very loud and then muffled again. The would-be lovers pulled apart and moved close to the wall. There was a bend in the corridor ahead, so they were hidden. It was obvious to both of them that a door must have opened and closed.

Listening intently, Jennifer tried to calm her breathing and racing heart. _Someone could be coming down the corridor. Get ready._ Lifting the TASER and putting her thumb over the power switch, she glanced at Rodney. He had moved in front of her effectively hiding her behind his taller form.

Footsteps could be heard getting closer to them. _Of course he comes this way._ Rodney knew their amazing luck had run out. Trying to let Jennifer know to get ready by reaching back to squeeze her leg, which was closest to his hand, he prepared for the worse.

A single person came around the corner, but was not expecting to see prisoners in the hallway. Rodney moved faster than he thought possible bringing his right shoulder into the guy's chest and shoving the P90 down with his good hand. The momentum of his body slammed them into the wall on the other side of the corridor. Jennifer was right behind him, waiting to hit the guard with the TASER. Unfortunately, Rodney and the guard were struggling over the gun, so she could not get the guard without zapping the man she loved as well. Since the astrophysicist only had his right hand, he locked it around the trigger mechanism trying to keep the guard from shooting. The guard was using one hand to hold onto the gun and the other to try to pry Rodney's hand off. Their grunting and struggling was making a lot of noise. Jennifer had an opportunity to kick the back of the guard's left knee. It distracted him and caused him to stumble which gave Rodney the opportunity to land a well-placed knee into the man's groin as he fell. The guard's grip on the gun loosened allowing Rodney to pull the gun loose. The scientist backed up aiming the P90 one-handed in the man's direction with a shaky grip. Jennifer moved in and zapped him from behind. Breathing heavily, the scientist and doctor shot each other small smiles and turned to head back up the corridor.

Jennifer grabbed the P90 from Rodney and handed him the TASER. It was flashing red because it was still charging.

"I can't believe it worked," Rodney said in amazement. The adrenaline still pumping through his system, keeping him from feeling any pain from his arm, which had be crushed between his body and that of the other man while they fought.

"How is your arm?" Jennifer's voice was laced with concern. "I know you hit into him pretty hard."

"I don't feel anything. Still too pumped on adrenaline," Rodney replied with a shaky voice.

"Are you having a panic attack or anything? If you need to…"

"No! We need to move. I can't believe no one heard that." Rodney nodded for Jennifer to walk up the corridor. Since she now had the P90, he could not take the lead. _Even though she has a gun, I should still be protecting her._

Realizing that there was no more sound of screaming, they stopped._ The victim was either not being tortured any longer, unconscious, or dead._ It appeared they both had the same thoughts as they looked into each other's eyes.

"It could mean a lot of things," the physicist whispered echoing Jennifer's thoughts, "It doesn't mean anyone is… dead. Or that it is anyone we know."

Jennifer gave Rodney an incredulous look. "Let's go." A sick feeling settled in her stomach and would not leave.

In most of the corridor, the doors were evenly spaced; here the walls were bare except for one door. It was black and appeared to be made of a different material than the rest of the corridor. It had a rough appearance unlike the corridors, which were smooth like the City of Atlantis.

"This is weird," the super genius said looking closely at the mechanism.

"What?" Jennifer was nervously glancing up and down the corridor gripping the P90 so hard her hands were numb.

"This door is not Ancient? It is made of a totally different material and the design is different. It doesn't connect to the wall properly either. There were gaps that they filled with some type of material to make a seal." He pointed to some type of white substance that Jennifer thought looked like the caulking you put around your bathtub.

"This conversation about Ancient architecture and design is really fascinating, but we need to get out of this corridor and, hopefully, rescue whoever was being tortured." Her voice had an edge to it that made her sound like the man she loved.

"Okay," the scientist growled back. "It's a mystery that could hold a clue as to who is doing this."

"Sorry, but I'm concerned that we are too exposed out here."

"Understood. So, you want to give me the gun?"

"Rodney, you have one hand. You can't shoot a P90 one-handed." Jennifer knew he was offering to do it to spare her. "It's really nice that you want to protect me, but I have used a P90 before and feel pretty certain I could fire at these bastards if I needed to."

"I'll be right next to you," he said leaning toward to give her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Stay out of my way if I need to fire, please." Jennifer was terrified she might hit him.

"All right, on three then I'll open the door." Setting down the makeshift TASER, Rodney opened the panel cover and started moving the wires around. _Wires? Ancients didn't use wires in their door mechanisms. This is not Ancient._ "Uh, Jennifer we might…"

"Rodney," she squeaked as the door started to open from the other side. Taking a step back and raising the P90, the CMO waited to see what came through the door.

* * *

**A/N Chapter 10 will come much sooner. I promise. Sorry for the cliffhanger. Blame my beta, scr1tno.**** Please review if you like it. It's always nice to hear what the you like.  
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	10. Cadman's Bad Day

**MGM owns all characters**

**A/N: I know this is a short chapter, but I want to update everyone on the adventures our favorite tap-dancing Marine.**

**Thanks to dwparsnip and scr1tno for their help.

* * *

**

Lieutenant Laura Cadman could not sleep because she had too much adrenaline pumping through her system. She disassembled her P90 and cleaned it at least three times and then moved on to her sidearm. After that was cleaned several times, she checked her Tac vest for supplies, ate a power bar and tried to stretch out on the hard matt she was given. The Marine kept replaying the village layout in her mind. _If only I paid closer attention instead of moping around because Jennifer was mad at me._

A smile crossed her face as she thought of Rodney and Jennifer finally becoming a couple. The young doctor confided in Laura that she had been crazy about Rodney since she met him. _How on Earth did that happen? Well, we're not on Earth._ Laura had to admit that McKay was cute and obviously crazy about Jennifer. She also knew something about the workings of his mind and was certain that he would now act on his feelings. _If they live that long. _Groaning, the young woman rolled on her side and tried to sleep.

* * *

At first light the lieutenant went to the hut housing Watts and Huston. She was irritable from not sleeping and anxious to get on with the mission. Over a breakfast of power bars and water, they gathered intel from Brenner and his people regarding the layout of the Ancient city; the catacombs under the city were near the woods at the bottom of the mountain. Unfortunately, the jumper was on the other side of the village.

"We need to hustle down the mountain and get to the jumper before mid-morning. It took about four hours to get here, but we need to chop that in half. Our team has been prisoners for almost a day." Laura looked at each of the young Marines in front of her. They remembered her story of Sanchez and Meeks' murders and realized they might already be too late. "Any questions?"

"No, ma'am," they said in unison.

"Let's move out," she said with finality looking at Brenner. "Thank you for your help, Brenner. Marines, move out! No noise. Double time. Huston on point. I've got our six."

"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.

The Marines moved rapidly and quietly down the mountain. They ran into a few sentries around the village, but easily avoided them. Once they got near the lake they had the first real problem with their plan. As Laura looked at the Jumper in the field about a quarter mile away from their hiding spot on a small ridge, she saw a guard walking around it.

"Damn," she whispered.

The two young Marines looked at her with raised eyebrows. She passed the binoculars first to Watts who then handed them down to Huston. Both pairs of brown eyes focused on the young lieutenant waiting for her orders.

_This is why you're an officer in the Marine Corps. You come up with solutions to impossible problems._ Laura tried to appear confident to the young men before her. _Okay, think. The jumper is in the open field. No cover on the approach. _Her hazel eyes were quickly darting around the scene before her. The lake stretched out to the left of her and the meadow leading to some trees around the village was on her right. The path from the village that they followed yesterday cut across the field, past the jumper and down a slight incline to the shore of the lake. _The incline. _She slid to her left and along the ridge keeping behind bushes until she could get a better look at the lake shore and path. It would appear from her angle that they could make their way to the jumper without being seen unless the guard looked down.

Edging back to the other Marines, she told them the plan. One of them needed to move down along the shore getting close to the jumper so they could take out the guard. Laura looked at the two large men in front of her. _Stealth was not going to be a strength for these guys. _

"I don't suppose either of you are snipers?" The lieutenant asked hopefully.

Both men shook their heads and mumbled, "No ma'am."

_Of course not, why would my luck suddenly change?_ Cadman, who won several marksmanship awards during basic training, realized she would have to do it. A P90 was not her weapon of choice if she had to be a sniper but it would get the job done.

"I'm going to follow along the edge of the hill leading to the shoreline. I'll come up behind the jumper. You should be ready to follow my route to the jumper once I take out the guard. If he gets the drop on me, haul ass to get to the jumper and take him out. Once you're inside, close the hatch and don't go anywhere. Atlantis will send a team in once we don't report in. Any questions?"

"Excuse me ma'am, but I don't know how to close the hatch on the jumper. Do you, Huston?" Tommy Watts asked his friend and looked sheepishly at his superior officer.

"What the hell do you mean you don't know? Didn't you pay any attention when Lorne and Zelenka went over this stuff? Even though you don't have the gene, you still need to be able to do basic stuff!" Cadman lost her temper fighting to keep her voice low. _First these idiots insult Jennifer and then threaten the second highest-ranking civilian on the expedition when he defends her. _The fact they did not pay attention to the presentation on the jumpers was the final straw. _I'm having Lorne bust these morons back to private and send them packing. _Taking deep breathes and counting backwards from a hundred to keep from slugging them, she regained control.

"There is a switch on the upper left hand side of the rear hatch. Go in, push it and sit tight for reinforcements. The jumper should withstand any of the firepower these folks have." _They are our weapons. _Laura was angry these people managed to manipulate her leaders into giving them weapons and supplies. _Don't think about revenge. Think about saving your friends and superior officers._

"Yes, ma'am," both men said in unison again. They had a hard time keeping eye contact with her.

"Once I get to the jumper and take out the guard, haul ass over so we can get supplies out of the jumper. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. I'm heading out." She was steamed over the fact morons like this made it to Atlantis, which usually takes only the best of the best. _Gotta have a chat with Lorne after this mission is over about that._

Pulling a cap out of her Tac vest, she pulled it over her red hair in an effort to keep the sun from reflecting off of it. _No reason to get my head blown off._ Adjusting her P90 and glancing one last time at the two younger men, she nodded and set off. Trying to walk through the bushes and keep the noise down was proving difficult. She wanted to run, not move slowly and quietly. Laura had to keep reminding herself that everyone was relying on her. Once her boots hit the gravel near the lakeside, she let out the breath she was holding since she headed down the hill. Moving on gravel silently was worse than going through the brush.

After what felt like hours of crawling on her belly through the grass, Laura finally got to the top of the incline and saw the jumper. Luckily, the guard was staring off toward the village, leaning against the jumper holding a P90 with his back toward Laura.

_Oh shit, now what? _Lieutenant Laura Cadman was a good soldier and she thought a good person too. The thought of shooting a man in the back did not really appeal to her. The anger she felt over their murder of the others and abduction of the rest of her team screamed for her to pull the trigger. As she aimed, the lazy guard seemed to remember he was supposed to look around and turned toward her.

The dark uniform of Atlantis did not hide the young Marine. The guard saw her and lifted the P90 so he could get a shot off. Acting on instinct, Laura pulled the trigger. The shot hit him in the upper left arm. _Damn! I missed!_ Because he was unfamiliar with the weapon and just got shot in the arm, his aim was not good. His shot went wide right. She jumped up, hitting him with her next shot to take him down. Terror flooded through her. _Someone must have heard those shots._ She ran to the jumper, kicking his P90 away in case he was not dead and opened the hatch to rush inside.

Never in her life had she lost it so fully on a mission. She was operating on pure adrenaline and it was causing her to violently shake. A wave of nausea passed over her and she collapsed onto her knees. Sounds could be heard outside the jumper_. Shit! They're coming._ Jumping to her feet and swinging her gun around she saw Watts and Huston running up the ramp. Since the shots should have given them away, the two Marines decided to run to the jumper and not worry about stealth.

_Great. My first solo mission and I screw it up. I'll be busted back to private with these two. _

"Ma'am, are you okay?" Watts' voice stopped her from continuing to mentally berate herself.

"Just need a sec," she said swallowing the bile in her throat. _They need you. Get a grip._

Sergeant Huston pulled the body up the ramp of the jumper.

Laura knew what to do. "Watts take his cloak and put it on. Go back out front and try to act like you accidentally shot your weapon. Go!"

Watts pulled on the cloak and walked around the outside of the jumper lifting and inspecting his gun. Huston and Cadman closed the hatch and waited for Watts to tell them it was clear. They made use of the time by gathering C4, grenades and extra ammunition. Laura grabbed an attachment to turn the P90 into a sniper weapon. She continued to scold herself mentally for missing the previous shot.

"No sign of anyone, ma'am." Watts' Texas drawl sounded in her ear.

"Thanks Watts." The lieutenant looked at Huston. "It looks like you and me. Do you know anything about laying explosives?"

"Yes, ma'am. I was the explosives expert in my previous unit, ma'am." Shawn's voice held a certain amount of pride.

Laura realized she was being really hard on these guys their first time out in Pegasus. _I ended up in McKay's head after my first mission in this messed up galaxy._ "Good. I'll tell you where to put them when we get in the tunnels. It's a long hike around to the other side to enter them, so we need to go."

Huston looked at his superior officer and nodded. "We'll get them out, ma'am."

Laura wished she had his confidence because her's was shaken right now. "Let's move out."

* * *

A short time later, the first entrance to the tunnels stood in front of Cadman and Huston. It seemed large enough to fit a small car._ Okay, we got here without getting caught and we can get inside, but how the hell will we get out again? Hopefully, I'll find the others and we'll make it up on the way. _

"Let's put a couple charges around the entrance. When we come out, we'll want to seal it." Laura tried to project that she knew exactly what the plan was to the sergeant.

The Marines planted charges near the entrance, wiped their boot tracks from the ground with some branches and headed into the darkness. Pulling on night vision goggles so they did not have to use their P90 lamps they moved cautiously down the corridor with Cadman on point.

After what felt like hours but was really fifteen minutes according to her watch the corridor got brighter. Pulling off their goggles so they were not blinded, they moved slower listening for any sound that might mean there was someone around. Laura looked closely at the mechanisms on the doors. _They look Ancient._ All of them were dark except for one in front of them.

Turning to look at Huston and motioning for him to take up position to the left of the door, Laura stood to the right with her gun aimed at whatever would be behind the door_. Probably not a good idea to open it, but I need to find where everyone is being held._ She waved her hand over the mechanism opening the door.

"Cadman!" The voice that came out of the room was weak and sounded a lot like her CO. It was pitch black inside with only the light from the door spilling in. She could see legs and boots stretching into the light. Turning on the lamp on her P90, she shined it on Major Evan Lorne. He was sitting on the floor with his arms tied around a column behind him. One of his legs had a bloody white cloth wrapped around it at mid-thigh.

"Major?" Laura stepped into the room shining the light around to make sure no one was hiding.

"It's clear. Only me," Lorne said with a bit more strength in his voice.

"Huston, come in and close the door," Laura said. The young Marine stepped in and nodded to their CO.

"Where are the others?" Lorne asked as Laura kneeled next to him pulling a small bottle of water out of her Tac vest.

"Drink this," she said holding the bottle up to his lips. "Let me get these cuffs off. What happened to your leg, sir?"

"Flesh wound. Where are the others, Lieutenant?" Lorne was glad to see two of his Marines. He had known Laura for many years at the SGC and on Atlantis. She was evading his question. "Lieutenant, I order you to answer me!"

"You already know Sanchez and Meeks are dead, sir." Laura felt terrible that she did not have much useful information. "Watts is at the jumper. If we don't get back, he'll be able to tell the others what happened when they come this evening, sir."

Lorne felt the cuffs loosen behind his back. His arms and wrists ached but he gladly moved them around to get circulation back. Laura moved to look at his leg.

"I need to re-bandage this. Here are some pain killers and a power bar, sir" Laura said pulling medication and food from her Tac vest.

"Thanks. Did you see anyone else?"

"No, sir. You?"

"Sheppard, Ronon and one of the techs. We were all held in some room but it didn't look like the rest of this place. It was strange. There was an Ancient chair weapons platform in it, but it seemed to be cobbled together with other technology. I know why they are in a hurry to get their hands on McKay. Do they have him?" Lorne looked Laura in the eyes and she looked away. "Cadman?"

"I think so. McKay and Jennifer must have been taken together. We know they have Jennifer. I know he wouldn't have leave her, sir." Laura could not hide the guilt on her face.

"You were responsible for Jennifer. Why did you leave her with McKay?" Evan was beyond pissed at the lieutenant right now. He knew he should have stayed with Jennifer himself, but thought Laura could be trusted.

"I was close by, sir. Sheppard thought they should have some time to…themselves."

"What the hell for!" _Don't say it. Please don't say it._

"Well… they… he…" Laura stammered. "You know you are not really her big brother, right? Sir?"

"Cadman!" Lorne grabbed her Tac vest and pulled her closer. Speaking each work slowly, Lorne repeated himself. "What the hell for?"

"They were kinda… you know… kissing, sir." Laura felt ridiculous; like a teenager covering for her best friend's late night liaisons.

"So someone grabbed them while they were making out!" The major said louder than he should have. Huston looked concerned.

"It would seem so, sir." Laura finished with the bandage. "I hoped they wandered off for some privacy but I was wrong. I was hiding in the bushes when I saw you get captured in the square and Jennifer... Then I got captured by the real villagers."

"What?" Evan used Laura to help get him on his feet. He felt slightly light headed and swayed. The lieutenant slid his left arm around her shoulders since that was the side with the bad leg.

"These people are not the actual villagers. Brenner, the leader of the people who used to live here were driven out when their space ship crashed about two years ago."

"Space ship! That's it. We must have been in their space ship. It's gotta be close to here because we exited a door into these hallways."

"It must have crashed or they landed it near the ruins, sir." Laura helped the major get close to the wall so he could lean back. "Sergeant Huston, you will need to bring Major Lorne back to the jumper."

"Belay that order, Sergeant. We don't have time. We need to find the others and get out of here," Evan said looking at the two Marines.

"No offense, sir, but you are in no condition to help us rescue anyone," Laura said.

"I can shoot, therefore, I'm helpful. Don't forget they have our weapons and know how to use them. If they have their hands on McKay, they are going to make him fix their ship. If they leave, we'll never find them."

"McKay will not help them, sir. He'll stall and whine and…" Laura stopped. "Oh no!"

"Lieutenant?" Lorne asked.

"They have Jennifer." Cadman looked at her CO with a look of fear on her face. "He'll do anything to protect her."

"I don't know about that. His sense of self-preservation is pretty strong."

Laura knew Major Lorne did not like McKay. She was not a big fan of the cranky scientist either, but she saw what McKay did this morning to defend Jennifer. "Oh, he'll do it, sir. This morning he single-handedly took on three Marines because they insulted Jennifer. If Dusty and I hadn't come along he was going to deck one of them."

Sergeant Huston suddenly had a coughing fit. Laura glanced at him. _Yes, I'm covering your sorry ass._

"I have never been more impressed. I guarantee you he would fix whatever if they threaten her." The young woman felt a pang of jealousy for a moment. The look in Rodney's eyes when he came into that alley after Jennifer said she loved him would stay with Laura forever. _Maybe some day someone will look at me that way._

"He picked a helluva time to become chivalrous don't you think?" Lorne shook his head. _After two years he picks this mission to show his feelings for Jennifer. Rotten timing, McKay._ "Okay, enough about the love birds. What do we have for weapons?"

Laura ran through their inventory of weapons, ammunition and explosives. Lorne took a handgun and a few grenades to put in his jacket. Huston was going to have to support the Major, which put the explosive's expert on point again. According to Lorne, the corridor leading to the left went deeper into the complex and eventually led to the room with the chair or spaceship as he called it.

"Sir," Laura began. She felt a need to apologize for not following his orders and leaving Jennifer with Rodney. "I'm sorry I…"

"Stuff it, Lieutenant. We can discuss it at your disciplinary hearing once we get back." Evan did not want to talk about it now. "Focus on the mission. That's an order."

"Yes, sir!" Laura tried to block out '_disciplinary hearing'_ from her mind. She really screwed up. Her responsibility was to protect Jennifer. Any sense of friendship she felt should have been pushed aside for the sake of the mission. Wandering off from the others to fight with the physician and then leaving her with McKay were the wrong choices. She was going to have to pay for the lapse of judgment.

They had not been walking more than ten minutes when a shudder knocked them off their feet. The ceiling was starting to crack further up the corridor.

"Get back," Laura screamed as she and Huston grabbed Lorne pulling him back the way they came. A loud sound echoed down the corridor followed by the sound of the ceiling collapsing. "Run!"

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**TBC**


	11. This is Some Rescue

**MGM owns all characters**

**Thanks to all the fans for keeping the reviews coming and my **_**advisors**_** dwparsnip, HalCooper and scr1tno.**

* * *

Rodney McKay felt panic flow through him as the door opened. Jennifer would have a second to get the shot off before an armed person could return fire. An image of Jennifer falling dead by his side drove him to move faster than he thought he was capable of. The instant it registered in his brain that the person on the other side of the door did not have a gun, the physicist, who was still pumped up with adrenaline from his fight, slammed his fist into the side of the man's head.

"Rodney!" Jennifer shouted as she stepped inside the door aiming the gun at the man. He was dressed in a blue jacket that looked like a lab coat. Blood flowed out of his mouth as he pushed himself up. "Stay there! Don't move."

"Got it," Rodney said as he slammed the man in the head with the defibrillator, cracking the case and knocking him out.

"Why did you do that? Now its broken," Jennifer said.

"Oops," McKay responded. He turned and closed the door, ripping wires out of the panel. "I wanted to knock him out, so… you know… so you didn't have to…"

Jennifer knew what Rodney was saying. Killing an unarmed person was not really something she wanted on her conscience. Smiling at him for protecting her _soul_ in addition to her body, she realized she loved him even more. "Thanks, but you didn't have to hit him with it. You could've stunned him."

"What is this place?" Rodney said avoiding her eyes for a moment. _She's right. I'm not thinking straight._ _Better get it together._ He looked up the corridor to a dimly lit room beyond with computer consoles. "Excellent. Now we're getting somewhere."

"Rodney, get behind me. _I've _got the gun." Jennifer moved in front of him as he started moving quickly up the corridor.

Rodney moved close to her, so he could push her behind him if they ran into more trouble. He had no idea how loud they had been while taking down the man in the corridor. _There could be someone waiting up ahead._

Once they stepped into the room, their eyes were drawn to the center because it was well lit and there was an Ancient Chair weapon sitting there. In the Chair was Douglas Bryce, one of the medical technicians, who looked like he was unconscious. Jennifer quickly ran toward him.

"Keller, stop," the voice of John Sheppard rang out in the room. "Don't touch it. It'll kill you."

"Sheppard?" Rodney and Jennifer both said at the same time scanning the large room. Along the right side of the room there were darkened alcoves. In the back corner is where John's voice came from. Switching on the light of the P90, she and Rodney walked around the platform toward the back of the room. Her light shone into an empty cell with bars on the door and as she swung the light to the left, she saw a battered and beaten John Sheppard slumped against the bars of his cell. Running to him, she knelt in front of the bars and shone the light on him seeing several lacerations on his face and a split lip. "John, are you okay? What did they do to Doug? Have you seen anyone else?"

"Whoa, you're starting to sound like McKay," Sheppard chuckled. Looking at his teammate standing behind Jennifer, he noticed that his left arm was in a sling. Jennifer, who was removing her backpack for her supplies, looked like she had not been harmed. Other than some hair falling out of her ponytail to frame her face, she looked like she always did when on duty in the infirmary. _They must have broken out. How the hell did they do that?_

"I'll see if I can find a way to release the cell," Rodney said going to one of the consoles.

"Did you two break out?" John asked as he reached out to take the water Jennifer handed him through the bars.

"I've got some pills for you to take," she said. "Yes, we're here to rescue you."

"Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?" The Colonel said with a smirk. He waved away the pills.

"They're antibiotics in case your cuts get infected. Here's some saline and gauze to try to clean them up." Shaking her head at his attempt at humor, the doctor started closing up her pack.

"Ronon is in worse shape than me. Give them to him," John said.

"Ronon? Where is he?" Jennifer asked looking around the darkened wall where the holding cells were.

"Over here," came the gruff voice of the Satedan from several cells to the right.

"I have plenty, Colonel, so take them. I don't want to deal with infections when we get back to Atlantis." Her voice was firm, so he took them.

The physician moved further along the bank of cells to find Ronon with similar injuries to the Colonel; only his shirt had a large bloody cut across the front. "How are you doing?"

"Been better," Ronon smiled at Jennifer. She looked like she was unharmed. "What happened to McKay's arm?"

"It got crushed under a column." She handed him water and antibiotics, too.

"Crushed? How did that happen?" Ronon asked taking the handful of pills and a drink.

"It fell on him after we knocked it over." Jennifer looked into the dull green eyes of her Satedan friend. "Do you want something for the pain?"

"No, I'm fine. It helps me focus. Why were you knocking over a column?" Ronon asked. _What did those two do?_

"I don't really have time to explain. What happened to Doug?" Jennifer stood taking the P90 with her and looked at the young technician strapped into the Chair.

"I'm sorry, Jennifer, but he's dead." John felt terrible telling her like this, but he needed to make sure she did not go near the Chair.

"How?" Her voice was suddenly weak and shaky. _Douglas Bryce was dead. It's my fault. I never should have taken him off world after only being here a week. _"And where's Tony?"

"The Chair killed Bryce and Karric killed Tony," John replied.

"What!" Rodney shouted from the console he was typing away at.

"Karric? He betrayed us?" Jennifer could not believe the kind old man with the bad ankle could have harmed them.

"I saw him shoot the kid, so it was definitely him," the colonel said. "He killed one of my Marines, too."

"I'm so sorry, Jennifer," Rodney looked at her and wanted to give her a hug, but knew he needed to decipher the information. He found a couple systems for propulsion and navigation. _It has systems like a ship. _"Sheppard what did you say about the Chair killing him?"

"It seems to kill anyone without the Ancient gene. They put Lorne in first…" His team leader began.

"Evan's alive? Where is he?" Jennifer turned to shine her light into the other cells.

"They took him. He tried to escape after they put him in the Chair and got shot in the leg. We haven't seen him since." John could not keep the concern for his second in command out of his voice.

"What? He could be bleeding to death in a cell somewhere." Jennifer caught Rodney's eyes. "I need to go look for him."

"No!" Three male voices shouted simultaneously.

"Jennifer, you are not going anywhere. Take care of John and Ronon. Lorne would not want you risking your life for him," Rodney said as he walked to the woman he loved and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. He knew he should keep working, but he did not trust her not to dart down the corridor._ She has been incredibly reckless lately. I'll need to talk to her about that. _"We've been extremely lucky so far. We only ran into two people. Don't push our luck."

Jennifer was torn. She knew Rodney was right, but Evan never wanted to come back. He was also against giving the villagers weapons and now those weapons were being used against them. She stared into Rodney's concerned face. "Fine."

"So when they put Doug in the Chair, what did it do?" Rodney walked to John's cell and knelt in front of his friend. He needed more details.

"It appeared as if it sent some type of electric current through him. He looked like he was being shocked." John was trying to catch a look at Jennifer, but she was just staring at the Chair and her junior staff member. "The technicians have to power down the Chair using one of the consoles before they can remove anyone. The guy who just left before you got here. I don't think he knew what to do."

"From what I can tell, this is not Ancient. As a matter of fact, some of the computer systems must have been stolen from a ship. They still reference navigation, weapons and life support. It's as if they linked the Ancient outpost with this… I don't know what it is." Rodney waved at the room they were in and moved back to the console clicking different buttons. "Jennifer, I need your help over here. I think I found how they're powering the Chair. Someone has cobbled Ancient and some other technologies together. The language is a derivative of Ancient, so you should be able to make out some things out."

"You expect me to read it?" Jennifer asked. She was still shocked and saddened by the loss of her two technicians. _Hold it together. You can cry in Rodney's arms once you're back. Don't think he'd appreciate it, though.  
_  
"Well, Radek should have taught you to read Ancient while he was _educating_ you or he's a lousy teacher," Rodney said spitting out Radek's name like it was poison.

Jennifer could not help but roll her eyes. "What do you need me to do?"

"I'm going to pull out some cables and I need you to tell me if the readings here and here start falling," he said pointing at two screens with numbers written in Ancient on them. "If I start screaming or you see sparks or stuff like that, type in this combination of buttons."

"Screaming? Sparks? Could you get electrocuted or blow us up?" Jennifer said with concern in her voice.

"It's possible. I don't know what half of this stuff is." Rodney leaned over to quickly give her a kiss on the forehead and then dropped to the floor scooting under the console on his back.

"Okay," Jennifer set the P90 down on the console. "But how are you going to manage with one hand?"

"I'll manage. Now get ready," Rodney said. _Please let this work. To get electrocuted after all we've been through would not be good. _Pausing a moment before he pulled the cable out, he said, "I love you, Jennifer."

"What?" Jennifer could not hear what Rodney was saying under the console, so she leaned down to look at him.

"I said I love you, now get back up there," Rodney said jerking his head for her to go.

"I love you, too. I'm ready." Jennifer stood up with her hands hovering over the keys to push in the combination that Rodney showed her. _Please let this work. _

John watched the resident super geniuses of Atlantis and thought they made a great team. They obviously escaped from their holding cells and found this room. _We should be rescuing them. When this is over, I will never hear the end of it from McKay._

Rodney pulled a cable out and the lights came on. Jennifer leaned down to help pull him up when John and Ronon both shouted. "Get down."

Rodney yanked Jennifer's hand pulling her on top of him. A stun blast flew over her. He ignored the pain in his injured arm as she landed on it and rolled them quickly so he was covering her with his body. "Where's the gun?"

"I left it on the console. I'm sorry." Jennifer had dreamed about being under Rodney's body for a long time, but not like this. _I can't believe I put the gun down. What an idiot!  
_  
"You can get up Doctor McKay and Doctor Keller. If not, we will kill Ronon and then Colonel Sheppard." Jennifer recognized the voice as that of Karric.

"Don't worry about us," Ronon could be heard growling.

"Jennifer, I can see the strap of the gun to your right," Rodney whispered in Jennifer's ear. Rodney had her effectively pinned to the floor trying to protect her. It was impossible to move and she could barely breathe. Looking into his blue eyes, she saw pain and love reflected there. Ignoring her own discomfort at being pressed into cold metal, she nodded and tried to get ready to roll and pull the gun off the console.

Rodney wanted to have Jennifer under him for years. Unfortunately, now it was to protect her and not to make love to her as he wanted. He could tell that he was hurting her by the grimace on her face and set of her eyes; with only one arm he could not hold himself off of her. Clenching his teeth against the pain in his left arm, he pushed himself up slightly with his right arm. He rolled right so Jennifer could reach up and pull the gun into her hands.

Once the gun dropped, Jennifer adjusted it and rose to her knees still hiding behind the consoles. Glancing at Rodney, who motioned for her to follow the consoles back to the exit corridor, she tried to think of what to do next. _How will we get Ronon and John? Or Lorne and the other soldiers?_

"I do not like to repeat myself, Doctor Keller. I promise if you come out, I will not hurt you or the others," Karric said.

"You're an idiot." Jennifer suddenly had an idea. _I hope I can pull this off. I need to be as arrogant and cocky as the man I love._ "If you don't let us _all_ go, we're all going to die. I have no reason to give you my weapon."

_What the hell is she doing?_ Ronon could see Jennifer and McKay behind the console. She was squatting with the P90 and McKay was squatting next to her. The Satedan was pacing and wished his hidden knives could reach all the guards, but he knew they were on a higher level with Karric. The man was as cruel as that Genii, Koyla; laughing as he cut Ronon's chest. _I'll get great pleasure returning the favor._

Rodney gave Jennifer an incredulous look. _Huh?_

"Really, Doctor Keller. How are you going to kill all of us? I guarantee you there are more of us than you," Karric said laughing.

"You're a stupid fool. Doctor McKay was in your computer systems," Jennifer said with as much arrogance as she could muster. "Don't you remember what Mister Woolsey said about how smart he is? Of course he put in a virus to blow us up if we're harmed."

Karric did not answer right away. Rodney was staring at Jennifer. He sucked at lying. _Why did she say that?_ As their eyes connected he tried to silently tell her this was not going to work, to give him the gun and get out. It appeared she read his mind because she shook her head.

"I don't care about the others, so I'll let them go," Karric said. He did not seem to have the same level of confidence in his voice as before.

"All of us or none of us," Jennifer replied looking at Rodney trying to pull from his immense reserve of arrogance. At that moment, she knew that if it came down to his life or hers, she had the strength to sacrifice her potential future with him to keep him safe.

"What do you want with them?" John had risen to his feet. He could not see Rodney or Jennifer because he was in front of them. _What are they up to? This man is a cold-blooded killer._ "Ronon and I are soldiers. Fighters. We are much more valuable than those two."

"Doctor Keller," Karric ignored Sheppard. _She's just the pawn I need. Stupid woman._ "I will release all your friends if you and Doctor McKay agree to remain with us."

"No way," Rodney yelled before Jennifer got a chance to say anything. He glared at the woman in front of him because he could see the look on her face. _No way am I letting her remain here. _

"What do you want with us?" Jennifer called out.

"I would think it is rather obvious." Karric sounded like he was coming closer to them. "The Great Doctor Rodney McKay is the smartest man in the galaxy according to Woolsey. We came into a bit of trouble a couple years ago. Our ship crashed on this world killing our engineer. He had the ability to work with Ancient technology, which we were hoping to gather more from this place."

Rodney leaned close to Jennifer so he could whisper in her ear. "That's it, we're in a ship. I have an idea."

Having Rodney breathing in her ear sent a shiver through her that had no place in the middle of a life-and-death situation. Furrowing her eyebrows, she gave him a questionable look wishing she could read his mind.

"I'll fix your ship, but you have to let everyone go, first," Rodney said looking at Jennifer.

"Shut up, McKay. You are _not_ helping them." John felt useless. He saw Karric and several of his goons coming down the stairs at the back of the room. They all carried P90s. _Why the hell did Woolsey agree to this?_

"As much as I looked forward to killing you, Colonel, I will let you go. I want you and what's left of your soldiers to return to Atlantis to let them know there is a new power in the galaxy."

"You're joking? You think you're as powerful as the Wraith?" Sheppard was trying to keep Karric's attention on him. _McKay must be working on something._

Rodney's mind was racing. _I've got to get Jennifer out of here._ He looked around and saw Ronon in his cell where he was pacing and clenching his fists. When their eyes connected, the scientist glanced at Jennifer, who was trying to look brave, and then back at his teammate. With a slight nod of his head, he tried to tell the big man to protect her.

Ronon watched McKay look at Jennifer and back at him with a nod. _McKay has a plan and wants me to get Jennifer. _The Satedan nodded and got ready.

"Jennifer, when I open the cell doors, I want you to start shooting out the lights. It should give John and Ronon time to get to us," he whispered into her ear and took a second to kiss her hair briefly feeling her nod. "Good."

_Now that she'll be busy, I can concentrate._ Rodney reached his right arm under the console and grabbed a cable. Hopefully, it was the one he needed.

John was glaring at Karric, when all hell broke out. The lights flickered; the cell door opened and someone started shooting. The guards dove for cover, as did Karric. John ran toward the Chair. If he could get it to work, he might be able to do something useful.

Ronon saw McKay reach under the console and pulled knives out of his hair and belt. When the door opened and Jennifer started shooting at the lights, Ronon practically leaped out of his cell. He threw a knife at the nearest guard who dropped in front of Sheppard, who was running their way. A stunner blast coming from the catwalk at the front of the room hit the Colonel causing him to fall before he could reach the computer console. Ronon had to dive back into a cell as a blast hit the spot where he had just been.

_Shit! Shit! Shit!_ Rodney could not believe John and Ronon did not make it to them. Jennifer was still shooting, but the guards must have realized she was not aiming at them by now. Glancing back at the Chair, he proceeded with his original plan. Running to the Chair, he quickly yanked the strap holding the body of Douglas Bryce off and removed him from the Chair. _Sorry._ He then dropped onto the Chair causing the platform to light up.

Jennifer saw Rodney pulling Bryce out of the Chair and sitting down. She glanced around and saw that Ronon was back in a cell because of shots coming from above. The young woman pointed the P90 toward the darkened upper level and started firing. As luck would have it, she hit a couple of people. Their cries could be heard and one of them dropped his weapon, which landed in front of the console. _Too bad I can't reach around to get it. _

Ronon watched helplessly as his friends struggled to save them. Rodney had been his teammate for four years and picked up some military strategy, but he usually left that to Sheppard. Jennifer had no military training except the basics everyone got on Atlantis. She had held her own on the Daedalus but became reckless trusting Todd. He was terrified when Karric said he would let them go that the physician would once again turn herself in to save them.

Rodney's only thought was to get Jennifer to safety when he sat in the Chair. The ship that the Chair was tied into tried to take off causing a lot of shaking and nothing else. Apparently, the power was not flowing to the engines properly. After knocking everyone off his or her feet, the shaking stopped.

Ronon was the first to get up. He immediately ran to pull Sheppard over to the consoles. Karric and his men were bounced around on the decks pretty hard, making them slow to get up.

Jennifer moved to help Ronon with John and called to the man she loved, "Rodney, are you okay? Did you do that?"

"I'm fine. There's something wrong with the power," he said moving to get off the Chair. As he stood, he froze raising his right hand. His position was slightly higher than Jennifer and the others kneeling behind the console caring for Sheppard, so he noticed men behind them. There seemed to be a lot of them.

Jennifer was feeling John's neck for a pulse as Ronon pulled the P90 away from her. "I'm sorry Ronon, but it's out of bullets. I should have realized it was going to run out, but…" She never finished the sentence because Ronon was suddenly hit by a stun blast. Jennifer screamed, glancing around and seeing guards behind her and Rodney. They must have gotten the door open at the end of the corridor. A sinking feeling came over her. Slowly rising with her hands raised, the physician looked at the physicist trying to say in her eyes how sorry she was that she failed him and that she loved him more than anything.

TBC

* * *

**A/N:Thanks for all of you who have been following this story, which was my first fan fiction. We are almost at the end.**


	12. The Sacrifice

**MGM owns all character.**

**Spoilers: Missing**

**A/N: This is it! Thank you to everyone for your feedback since this started. I appreciate you sticking with me during the long hiatus this spring. Thanks to HalCooper, dwparsnip, and scr1tno for beta work and support! You guys are awesome!**

* * *

Laura Cadman tasted blood in her mouth. As she regained her other senses, she heard breathing nearby and felt her gun pressed against her stomach. Pushing herself up a little, she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. _No, I can't have a concussion._ Reaching down to pull her gun out from under her, she flicked the light on and aimed it to her left to see Major Lorne facedown and covered with a layer of dust like herself.

"Major," she croaked and then started coughing because of all the dust in the air.

"Uhhh," the Major groaned moving his head and arms to push himself up. When his blue eyes caught hers, he blinked a few times and said, "Are you okay, Lieutenant?"

"I think so. Just some ringing in my ears." The Marine moved into a sitting position and aimed the P90's light around the corridor looking for Huston. He was slightly behind them lying on his back with a piece of the ceiling covering his lower body. There was a gash on the side of his head and blood running down his face. Scrambling to her feet, she staggered a bit on her way to him. "Sergeant."

Lorne pushed himself up ignoring the stabbing pain in his lower leg. _How messed up did this mission turn out to be?_ _My best friend gets kidnapped while making out with McKay and the people we are here to help turn out to be murderous criminals. Jennifer is never leaving Atlantis again._ Using the wall to his right as support, the Major moved back toward Sergeant Huston and Lieutenant Cadman.

"Major, you should sit down," Cadman said as she assessed the Sergeant. "Huston has a concussion or worse, so we won't be able to move him."

"Damn. Could things get any worse?" Frustration filled Lorne's voice. The even-keeled man finally was losing his temper. "So help me, I will kill the first one of those bastards I find with my bare hands."

"Sir, I'll get you to the jumper so you can get help and then come back for Huston. Let's get this off his leg to make sure there are no more injuries and get moving." Cadman moved to lift the block of ceiling from the young man.

Evan did not want to leave a man behind unprotected, but his injury prevented them from carrying the large Sergeant and he could not make it to the jumper without her assistance. _Cadman's right, getting help is the most important thing for everyone now_. Moving to help the explosives expert, he said, "Okay. Let's get him secured and make for the jumper."

Laura had never heard the Major get upset like he just did. They had not served at the SGC together but she knew of him. Everyone talked about how cool under pressure Evan Lorne was and the Marine had seen it first hand. _If he loses it, we are definitely finished._

* * *

Back in the ship, Rodney moved as quickly as he could to get between the men with guns and Jennifer. He kept his right hand raised as he moved so they did not think he was going to try something. Looking at the woman he loved, he saw sadness and regret in her face and imagined his mirrored those same emotions. Glancing down at his two stunned teammates, he remembered the bargain they reached with Karric. _At least we can save John and Ronon and I might be able to get him to release Jennifer._

"That was a good try Doctor McKay, but I could have told you the power to the engines is unstable. Our attempt to tie into the power supply of this place has not worked very well for us. It is why we need _you_," Karric said walking toward them with the console as the only separation. The man looked at Rodney and then settled his eyes on Jennifer.

Noticing a hunger flash over the man's face moved Rodney into action. He used his right arm to pull Jennifer close behind him as if his body alone could prevent the man from the evil thoughts in his head. "I'll help you fix your ship, but John, Ronon _and_ Jennifer have to be released."

"I have no problem releasing the soldiers. I want them to return and tell everyone about us," Karric said with the leer directed at Jennifer still on his face. Two guards grabbed Rodney's teammates and dragged them by their feet across the room and toward a door behind Karric. "The doctor, however, I will keep. I think she is incentive for you to succeed. Based on the intimate embrace we captured you two in, I know you will protect her. Right now getting this ship going is the only thing you can do to help her."

Jennifer felt sick to her stomach. The way Karric looked at her made her feel like she was naked and exposed. A shiver went through her as she moved closer to Rodney. Feeling the warmth from his body helped her ward off the chill caused by Karric's eyes. Concentrating on the evil man across the room lowered her guard, so the feel of an arm around her waist lifting her up and away from Rodney was a shock. "No! Rodney!"

Jennifer felt tears in her eyes. After all they had been through, after all the difficulties they had overcome not just on this mission but in the two years they knew each other for her to fail Rodney because she was stupid and let her guard down was too much to bear. _I cannot cry in front of these people, _she told herself_. _Trying to find some of the courage she had when she and Teyla were captured last year, she kept the tears at bay. It was thoughts of Rodney and the team coming to rescue her that got her through that difficult ordeal. Now his love for her would need to give her strength to get through this.

Turning quickly, Rodney saw the beginnings of his worst nightmare unfolding before his eyes. One of the guards had gotten directly behind them and grabbed Jennifer around the waist lifting her bodily off the deck and holding her tight with a handgun pointed at her head. "No! Karric, I'll do anything. Don't hurt her!"

"Yes, you will do as I say Doctor McKay. I think Doctor Keller is a bit of a distraction to you. Let's remove her," Karric said motioning his soldiers to bring her to him.

"No," Rodney cried putting his right hand out. "I only have one hand so I need her help. Don't forget, I can still let this ship blow up." Rodney glared at the man while lowering his right hand. The console was in front of him and the power reading was spiking. If he could only move his hand a little closer to the buttons, he could overload the chair, which should provide a distraction.

"I do not think I need to kill Doctor Keller to get you to work." Karric motioned to the guards surrounding Rodney.

Jennifer saw another guard walking to her. Her arms had been captured by the vice-like grip of the guard behind her. The cold metal of the gun still pressed against her temple. Rodney had turned from her to stare down Karric, but now he turned back as Karric made his threat. A guard got between her and Rodney and pulled out a large knife. _No. Please no._ Jennifer felt the tears well up again. Knowing Rodney could not see what the man had in his hand and not wanting to give anyone the satisfaction of hearing her scream, she tried to think about something else. _Try to remember the smell of the hay in Grandpa's barn or your Grandma's gingerbread. _The man in front of her reached out and pulling her left arm from the grip of the other guard. She could feel a laugh rumble through the chest of the man holding her. _Think about Rodney kissing you and holding you. Once you get out of here, you will finally be together._

"Make sure McKay sees what happens when someone stalls," Karric called as he walked over near Rodney. The guards surrounding the physicist moved in and grabbed his upper arms.

"Hey. If you want me to fix this ship, I need my hand and I need Jennifer." Rodney was scared and that made him angry. Struggling against the much stronger men holding him only caused pain to shoot through his broken arm.

Karric laughed as the guard moved back holding Jennifer's arm in one hand and a big knife in the other.

"No!" Rodney was pulling with all his strength, but could not get free. _This can't happen. Just like Kolya all over again._ His voice cracked and tears welled in his eyes. "Please stop. Don't hurt her. I said I'd do it. I need her help. If you…"

Before Rodney could finish, the guard slashed with his knife cutting into the top of Jennifer's left forearm, but she did not scream. She only flinched with a few tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. Rodney violently tugged and kicked at the men holding him. "Jennifer!"

"Now," Karric paused as he walked to Jennifer to grab her face in his hands. She had her eyes squeezed shut, but opened them when he touched her. "You will fix my ship. You may have any of my soldiers at your disposal to help you. I will remove Doctor Keller to another location where I can… care for her injury."

Rodney had no doubt in his mind that Karric was _not_ going to take care of her. A fear unlike anything he had known gripped his heart. "You don't have to do this. I'm getting to work as soon as the goon squad lets me go. I'm the one you want."

"Yes, you are the one I want. Your ability to use the Ancient devices is something my people need," Karric said as he caressed Jennifer's cheek with his hand.

Seeing Karric touch the woman he loved and the blood flowing down her arm were Rodney's undoing. As soon as the guards released him, he elbowed the closest guard in the stomach. Twisting on his right leg, he brought his left knee into the man's chest as he doubled over. Reaching for the gun dropping from the man's arm, Rodney was hit on the back of the head by another guard knocking him to his knees.

"Enough!" roared Karric. "He cannot be harmed. We need his ability with the Ancient devices."

Jennifer clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, but tears still leaked out when she felt the metal come in contact with her flesh. _Don't scream. Don't cry. It's not so bad. Rodney's got a broken arm. _An intense pain lingered where her flesh was separated as blood began to soak into her jacket. Jennifer could feel bile in her throat and a light-headed feeling came over her. She was certain it was because of Karric's proximity more than the blood flowing from her arm. When she felt his hand grab her face, her eyes flew open and she jerked her head away only to have him stroke his fingers down her cheek.

Seeing Rodney fighting and getting hit by the guards caused the protectiveness she had always felt for the misunderstood man to resurface. _They want the ATA gene and I can give it to them. Perhaps I can get Rodney out of here, too. _"I could help you with that."

"What?" Karric turned to look at the woman who had haunted his thoughts since he met her.

"I can give you a treatment that will allow your people to use the Ancient devices. I would need access to a lab to prepare it, but I will only help you if you let Rodney go. Take him out with Sheppard and Ronon." Jennifer suddenly felt calm. The pain from her cut was a dull throbbing as the idea that she could save all her friends formed in her mind. _So what if he tortures or rapes me. If they are safe, the sacrifice is worth it._

"That is an interesting proposition," Karric said raising his eyebrows.

"No," Rodney was screaming. "Jennifer what are you saying? I won't leave you."

"I suggest you get to work Doctor McKay or I will perform another demonstration of my anger upon your lovely friend," Karric said turning to face the astrophysicist.

Rodney pulled himself up from his knees with his right arm. His eyes shifted to the woman he loved. She still had a weapon held to her head and someone holding her from behind as her left arm hung limply at her side with blood soaking her jacket and flowing down her fingers to drip on the floor. Tears were starting to blur his vision. He knew he needed to get the ship working and then he could save her. _No way am I leaving her to be… Don't think it. It's not going to happen._

"Put Doctor Keller in one of the cells and give her something to take care of her injury. I do not want her to become too sick to help us." Karric turned and walked back to the front of the room.

* * *

The journey was slow for Lieutenant Cadman and Major Lorne. He was a lot heavier than he looked. Laura did not want to leave Shawn Huston behind, but she knew getting Lorne to the jumper was the best chance for all of them. The thought that she failed miserably on this mission continued to haunt the usually confident woman. _I let my friendship with Jennifer get in the way of the mission. I'm going to get sent back to Earth and stuck guarding the Gateroom at the SGC or some other boring job._

"Hold up," Lorne hissed next to her left ear. They were trying to make their way silently through the trees and brush around the village. "Give me your binoculars."

She leaned Evan against a tree and pulled them from her Tac vest while looking back to the village. There was a commotion on the edge of town. Laura could see several men dragging something down the main street while they struggled with someone. She raised her rifle to look through the scope while the Major looked through the binoculars.

"Looks like the Colonel and Ronon," Lorne whispered. "Ronon's unconscious, but looks okay and Sheppard is obviously okay."

"Rescue?" Laura said with eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, what explosives do you have, again?" The Major asked handing back the binoculars and removing the 9mil from his waistband. Sergeant Huston had been awake, but extremely disoriented when they left him, so they left his P90 in case he needed to defend himself.

"A bunch of flash-bangs and some C4." Cadman ran through her inventory.

"How do you feel about creating a little diversion and getting the Colonel and Ronon?" Evan asked. He knew he had been really hard on her, but could not completely forgive her for leaving Jennifer defenseless. If was not in pain and thinking clearly, he might have realized some of his anger was at the idea of a woman he loved like family giving her heart to an unbelievably arrogant man like McKay. His concern for Jennifer was clouding his judgment as much as it had the Lieutenant's. "Cadman, I'm not going to be very mobile, so let's get down to the edge of town. I can throw some flash bangs and cover you."

"Yes, sir," Laura handed him her P90 and took his 9mil. She would have two handguns and a couple flash bang grenades. Sheppard would be disoriented from the grenades, so she would have to help him with Ronon. "I think getting you to the jumper is the best course of action. I'll come back."

"They already killed two people in cold blood," Lorne snapped.

"I know, but if we get killed, we can't save anyone, sir," Laura said glaring at him until a sound drew her attention back to the village.

Cadman and Lorne both looked toward the sound of Colonel Sheppard shouting. Quickly looking through the scope, Evan saw the guards standing with guns pointed at his CO and Ronon, who was shoving himself off the ground. Sheppard's words could not be understood from this distance, but he sounded angry.

Afraid their enemies were going to start shooting like a firing squad, Lorne pushed Cadman to start moving back toward a large brown building at the edge of town nearest them. Hobbling from tree to tree, the Major nodded for Laura to go down without him. Looking through the sniper scope the Lieutenant attached to the P90, Evan could see five men with P90s standing between Sheppard and Ronon, who was finally on his feet, and the town. _It looks like they are standing guard. This doesn't make sense. Are they going to kill them?_

* * *

Jennifer bit her lip as she pulled the jacket off her bloody arm leaving her in a light blue t-shirt. They gave her saline, gauze, bandages and the medications in her bag, but no scissors to cut the fabric or material for stitching her cut. Once the coat was pulled off, she saw that the cut was not that deep. It was just deep enough to be painful and cause a lot of bleeding. She poured the saline over her arm and wiped the excess blood with a piece of gauze and set about bandaging her arm with one hand. _Now I know how Rodney feels._ Thoughts of the physicist caused a tightening in her chest. They took Rodney to their engine room a short time ago. He did not want to go and begged Karric to let Jennifer help him, but their captor refused.

"Doctor Keller," Karric said startling her.

"I didn't realize you returned," Jennifer said as she slid further back in the cell. The look in his eyes and the leer on his face caused her to be more afraid than when she and Teyla had been hostages.

"It would appear your genius friend is close to fixing the engine problems," Karric knelt down outside the cell to be at Jennifer's level since she was still sitting down trying to finish wrapping her injured arm.

"All you had to do was ask, you know. You didn't have to kidnap or kill any of us. We help people all the time," Jennifer said. The bandage was finished as best she could with one hand, so she climbed up on her feet. Leaning against the back wall of the cell allowed her to hide the fact that she was dizzy from seeing her own blood.

"I do not think you would help us if you knew what we had done over the last two years to the real inhabitants of this planet. I don't think there are any of them left. Unfortunately, none of them had this Ancient gene, so the chair killed them." Karric also stood and reached out to open the cell with some type of key.

Jennifer swallowed and felt her heart race. _No. Please don't._ Evil thoughts kept going through her head of what this man wanted to do to her. _You need to stay focused._ "You're right, we wouldn't have helped you. But if you hurt me again, Rodney will destroy this ship."

"I thought you had agreed to go with us and give us this treatment," Karric said as he stepped in front of the young woman reaching a hand to touch her face again.

"I did, but I did not agree to… I will only help you if you let Rodney go. I need to see you release him with my own eyes or the deal is off." Stepping away from his hand, Jennifer was trying to draw on her two years of watching the man she loved deal with stronger enemies. Rodney had a way of getting angry with the people who threatened him and it usually gave him the upper hand. _You need to relax. Act like you are in control._

"Your bargaining posture is highly dubious. You think you have some leverage, Doctor Keller?" Karric narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.

"Of course I do. I have the might of Atlantis behind me. If you kidnap Doctor McKay and me they will come for us." Jennifer tried to smirk like Rodney would. "If I go with you willingly and you hurt no one else, Atlantis will honor my agreement."

"Really?" Karric was surprised she could have so much power. "I thought your Mister Woolsey was in charge. That is why I negotiated with him."

"Woolsey is a puppet. He's a nobody." Jennifer was lying through her teeth and hoping to keep the arrogant smirk on her face. "On my world, I was recruited for this program because I am one of the smartest. I am much younger than the others and am a genius like Doctor McKay. When he finishes with the ship repairs, you will take him off the ship and keep me, a doctor, a scientist and a genius. Only I can give you the gene therapy. It's not Doctor McKay's area of expertise."

A look of triumph overcame Karric's face. He reached out to brush some hair from Jennifer's face. It took a great deal of self-control not to throw up or flinch at his contact. _Don't take your eyes off your enemy_, Ronon's voice sounded in her head. "Where are Ronon and Sheppard? Also Lorne and the others?"

"Come here and I will show you." Karric motioned for her to follow him over to the consoles in the middle of the room and along the wall.

Moving slowly, but with her head held high, the young CMO walked toward a bank of monitors built into the consoles at the back wall. She saw video images of the village and a couple long-range shots of the jumper and Stargate at the far side of the lake after Karric pressed a button. Sheppard and Ronon could be seen walking down the road going out of town.

"Where is Major Lorne?" Jennifer asked, as she saw no one else on the cameras but guards.

"He did not survive Doctor McKay's attempt to get the ship to launch. His section of the Ancient city was buried when the ceiling collapsed. It is too bad because we know he had the Ancient gene, as you call it." Karric turned back to Jennifer. "The other soldiers were probably captured by the hostiles from the mountains."

Her eyes widened in horror. _Evan is dead? Laura is missing. No! _Thoughts of the handsome Air Force pilot filled her head. When they first met on a transport to the SGC he noticed she looked scared and introduced himself, telling her she looked like his younger sister. They spent the trip on the Daedalus discussing their careers and sharing family stories. _And Cadman, too?_ A lump formed in her throat and tears welled up in her eyes. _Stop it. You must save Rodney and the others. It's the only way to honor the friends you lost. Evan and Laura were soldiers and would want to die saving those they swore to protect. You are a physician and have a similar oath to protect._

"You realize that I could keep both you _and_ Doctor McKay?" Karric asked as he shut off the camera feeds.

Before he turned off the camera, Jennifer saw a room with a red glowing object in the center of a table. It looked like the ZPM room on Atlantis. _A ZPM? Oh my God. I have to let Rodney know._

"If you keep Doctor McKay, I will never help you with the Ancient gene." Jennifer threatened, knowing he was absolutely right. She had no threat to hold over his head, only that she would not help him. It was also crucial to let Rodney know about the ZPM. _Another ZPM for Atlantis. _"As I said, let me see with my own eyes your release of Doctor McKay and I will go with you. It will be much easier to operate this equipment if you can use your own men instead of relying on a hostage to do your dirty work. If you are serious about being a force in the Pegasus Galaxy, you will need real access to Ancient technology. This is the better bargain. Don't be a fool."

"I believe people must underestimate you, Doctor. You are far stronger than you look." Karric looked at her with respect mixed with the lust in his eyes.

_Keep it together for Rodney and the others. When you get into space, you can lose it._ She knew Atlantis would not stop looking for her, but the galaxy was large. _Just keep up the strong, arrogant persona. It seems to be working._ "Only the stupid ones. You heard how Woolsey spoke of Doctor McKay. He is the smartest and most capable of our people. As you witnessed, he will do whatever I ask of him. Woolsey and the others are the same. If you keep your word to me, I can offer you more than just the Ancient gene."

Jennifer drew herself up to her full height, squared her shoulders and turned to walk back to her cell. "It's your decision."

* * *

In the engine room, Rodney was working as fast as he could. Once Karric left, panic gripped him as he thought of the man returning to Jennifer. _I finally know how she feels about me and now we're going to die. How unfair is that? _

He had not put in any type of self-destruct before, but based on Jennifer's bluff, he thought he better do it now. While tying the power systems together, he put in an overload for when the ship fired its hyperdrive thrusters. The physicist was going to go through with Jennifer's original threat to let them go or destroy the ship. _It's a good thing he's a stupid psycho. Otherwise he would not have let me anywhere near the computers. _Glancing at his watch, he realized he had been away from Jennifer for almost a half an hour. _Faster. Faster._ His hand moved as rapidly as it could input code and move cables around.

"That should do it. The batteries will take a bit of time to load up on power and then they will be ready to go," Rodney said aloud to the goons standing in the room. "Go tell Karric it will be ready in about ten minutes."

Rodney glanced at the console to watch the batteries filling with power. _Wait a minute? Where the hell is the power coming from?_ Moving to a different console, he typed in some codes and got a schematic of the ship. The conduit to the batteries that drove the engines ran from the Ancient outpost into the bottom of the ship.

The astrophysics had his first happy thought since Karric captured him and Jennifer. _It couldn't be?_ Scanning through the computer system to check the power readings, he discovered a reading that he had searched the Pegasus galaxy for since his arrival. It was the energy signature of a ZPM, and based on the power it was feeding the ship, a pretty heavily charged one. _Yes! Now to rescue the girl and get rid of the creeps._ "I said I'm done."

* * *

As Sheppard and Ronon made their way out of town and toward the jumper, they heard what sounded like gunfire off in the distance. Turning back toward the village, they glanced at each other.

"Sounds like it's coming from behind the village where the Ancient ruins are," the Colonel said.

"P90," Ronon replied.

"Definitely. Could be Cadman?" John saw the guards looking around, too.

Suddenly, P90 fire sounded much closer to John and Ronon's position. Both men dove to the ground until they could figure out where it was coming from. Their guards also scrambled to find cover.

As John looked up the road, he saw some small objects flying through the air at the guards from the buildings to their right. When they hit the ground, the pilot covered his head preparing for a loud noise and lots of smoke to blow their way. "Ronon! Flash bangs!"

The Satedan covered his head as dust and sound rolled over them from the grenades going off. Since they were a short distance from the actual explosion, the sound was not too bad.

Lifting their heads, they heard a familiar voice. "Colonel, Ronon, get to the trees."

"Cadman?" John lifted his head shaking some of the ringing out of his ears.

He could not see the Lieutenant because of the smoke, but he heard the sound of a couple of 9mil Berettas going off in front of him. _Cadman must be taking out the guards._ The P90 fire stopped both locally and in the distance.

Silence filled the area. A groan was heard in the smoke in front of the Colonel as he pushed himself to his feet._ A few shots from the P90 were heard and the moaning stopped. Who killed him?_

"Clear!" Cadman could be heard.

"Clear," the weak voice of Major Lorne sounded. "Cadman, get up on a rooftop and see what happened with Huston."

"Major?" Sheppard could begin to make out Lorne hopping on one foot near the edge of a building.

"Sorry we couldn't warn you about the noise, sir," Lorne said as he leaned back against the wall after handing the P90 with the scope back to Cadman. His face was white and sweat was rolling down his cheeks.

"Chewie, give the Major a hand. We need to get him to the jumper. I'll back-up Cadman." Sheppard leaned down to pick up a P90 the dead guards dropped. He noticed several of the bodies had multiple gun shot wounds.

"Hard to see in the smoke, sir." Lorne had a look unlike any Sheppard ever saw before in his eyes. He was worried about something a bit more serious than a mission gone awry. _Probably worried about Doctor Keller. Well, so am I._

"Agreed." John glanced around. "What did you say about Huston?"

"He's injured in a cave beyond the village; severe head trauma. We left him with a P90, in case he got company. Guess that wasn't a bad idea," Evan said.

"Shouldn't we send Cadman with Lorne to the jumper?" Ronon said to Sheppard as he grabbed a couple of P90s from the ground. "I'd rather go with you."

"Perhaps we can help," a deep male voice said from behind them. All three soldiers swung around aiming their guns and saw a rag-tag group standing behind them.

"Who are you?" Sheppard asked.

"They are the original inhabitants of the village, sir," Laura said coming around the building. "This is Brenner. Karric's soldiers have all but exterminated his people. They crashed here a couple years ago in some type of ship."

"They want your scientist to help them fix it," Brenner said.

"They obviously want people with the Ancient gene, too," said Lorne. "Where are McKay and Jennifer?"

"They are in this ship he mentioned," John said looking at Brenner. His people looked even worse off than most of the villagers they met in the Pegasus Galaxy, but Atlantis might be able to help. He looked closely at Cadman. She seemed pretty comfortable with this planet's inhabitants. _Can I trust her judgment?_

"You can trust them. From the rooftops I could see they are helping Huston back to the jumper right now. He must have shot at them until his clip ran out," Cadman explained.

"Huston's still alive?" John asked.

"And Watts. He's with the jumper. I wanted to make sure someone could tell our soldiers what happened when Woolsey sends them to check up on us after we don't dial in," Laura explained.

"Good job, Lieutenant." John was impressed she thought of keeping someone in the jumper as rearguard. "Lorne, fly to the gate, dial for reinforcements and then come back to help us out. A couple drones in the right place should get them to cough up our favorite doctors."

* * *

Back on the ship, Rodney had never been so conflicted. He was ecstatic at finding a ZPM but terrified that Jennifer might be harmed or worse. As he walked back to the control room where the chair was, he tried to take in how many guards there were and the ship's layout to keep his mind off his warring emotions.

When he walked into the control room with the chair, Rodney noticed Jennifer was not in the cell but standing in the room near Karric. Her arm was wrapped in a white bandage, but some blood had stained it and her jacket was missing. She had a strange expression on her face, like she was acting _superior_. Her nose was raised slightly; chin jutting out and a smug look on her mouth. _What is she up to now?_

Jennifer struggled to maintain her façade to Karric when his men led Rodney into the room. Trying to contain her excitement at telling him about the ZPM was difficult. Because she spent so much time with Rodney and the other scientists, she knew what another ZPM means to Atlantis. _Too bad I might not be there to enjoy it._

As soon as her eyes met with the bright blue gaze of the man she loved, she knew he already found out about the ZPM. The excitement in his eyes and on his face could not be entirely tempered by their precarious situation. _Besides, Rodney believes we will all be let go._

"Now, I fixed your ship, so you will let us _both_ go." Rodney stated trying to keep his voice neutral. _Just act like he's going to let you both go. If he doesn't, just get Jennifer out."_Now, shall we get the ship going?"

A smile flashed over Jennifer's lips, but felt forced. _You couldn't save Lorne, but Rodney, John and Ronon will probably be all right. Perhaps Laura and the others were just missing, too. Don't let Rodney suspect anything or he won't leave without being forced._

"Please, Doctor McKay," Karric said as he stood next to Jennifer watching the physicist fire up the engines with a smirk on his face.

"I'll just move it a bit, so Jennifer and me can get out and then you can be on your way." Rodney punched in a few codes and the ship moved much more smoothly than the last time. "The chair interface is shot. There is no way I can fix that. You'll have to fly using the old controllers."

Karric looked at Jennifer with a leer. "Very well, I'm sure we will find others with your capabilities to fix the chair. Departing from this planet is my only concern."

Rodney was busy with controls as one of the guards looked over his shoulder. As Jennifer suddenly realized she could be saying good-bye to him forever, fear began to wash over her. _How am I going to do this?_ Memories flooded her mind as she fully acknowledged her fate: thoughts of first seeing Atlantis or the Stargate, saying good-bye to her father, Carson and the medical staff, Meeks and Bryce, Lorne, Cadman, Teyla, little Torren, Sheppard, Ronon and finally Rodney. Being in his arms and kissed by him for the first time only yesterday would have to sustain her for possibly the rest of her life. _It was not enough. We should have had so much more time together. I should have told him I loved him when the parasite was killing him or even before then. I never should have held back, doubting what I saw with my own eyes._

Taking more strength than she had during her ordeal with Teyla or when she was turning into a Wraith hive ship, she held back her tears and her cries._ I am doing this to save everyone. _She knew they would look for her, but did not think she would survive that long. There's _no way will I not fight back if this bastard tries to touch me. I'll end up getting killed._

* * *

Back outside, a rumbling could be heard from beyond the village as the hill nearest the edge of town started to shake and crumble. A ship about the size of the Daedalus rose into the air.

"Damn," John shouted as they turned to run back out of the town. "McKay fixed it. Why the hell didn't he stall like he always does?"

"Because they have Jennifer," Ronon replied following his team leader back to the edge of town.

"I hope they get Lorne to the jumper quickly. The drones should keep it on this planet until we can extract McKay and Doctor Keller," John said as he tried to see where the men carrying Major Lorne were.

"It's landing, sir," Laura said as they stopped running and moved closer to the last buildings at the edge of town.

The ship smoothly set down in the large field that eventually led to the jumper and the lake beyond. A ramp lowered from the side and several people could be seen at the top of the ramp.

"Spread out. Ronon, you're with me," Sheppard said as he shouted his order to Cadman and the others. "Maybe he's going to let them go."

"Right," Ronon said as he held a P90 in each hand. "Miss my gun, but these will have to do."

"Don't shoot until Keller and McKay are safe," John said.

* * *

As the ramp lowered in front of Rodney, he could almost feel his heart beating again. It felt like an eternity, but was only about two minutes to fly the ship out of the valley where it had crashed near the Ancient temple and land it in the field. He had disabled the video system when he got a flash of some people approaching the jumper with what looked like someone in an Atlantis uniform being carried over their shoulder. _Must be Lorne since he's got a bad leg. _

He did not get a chance to talk with Jennifer because Karric was keeping her away from him. _Still trying to use her to make me do your bidding. Wait until you hit the hyperdrive, you bastard. Wish I could see your expression as you get blown to hell._

Once the ramp lowered, Rodney saw two figures approaching the ship. It was Sheppard and Ronon.

"Looks like the soldiers would not leave you two behind," Karric said from behind McKay.

"Just making sure you let us go now that we fixed your ship," Rodney said turning to see Karric standing close to Jennifer, who had said nothing to Rodney since he returned to the control room. The only time she really made eye contact was to let him know about the ZPM. Glancing again at the woman he loved, Rodney could not make eye contact with her. She was staring at the floor and looked sad. The arrogance she showed when he first got to the control room was fading. "Jennifer? We can go now. Come on."

The physicist extended his hand to take hers only to have a guard grab his arm and a second guard put a P90 in his face. "What do you think you're doing?"

Karric leered at Jennifer and slid an arm around her waist pulling her toward him. She would not look at Rodney and tried to shove Karric away from her. "I was planning to force you to remain my prisoner, Doctor McKay, but the lovely Doctor suggested a less troublesome way to access this advanced technology."

"No!" Rodney screamed. The guard holding the gun shoved the barrel against Rodney's chest and pushed him down the ramp. "No! Jennifer, the ship is going to explode when they go into hyperspace! Karric, I have _not_ disabled the self-destruct. Let Jennifer go."

"So, were yoou trying to play me, Doctor Keller?" Karric pulled Jennifer against his body and pulled a knife from his pocket suddenly pressing it to Jennifer's throat. "A noble sacrifice."

"I… I didn't know. I can disable it. Let Rodney go and I'll do it," Jennifer pleaded. She finally made eye contact with Rodney and felt another painful stab of longing for him. "Rodney, go. I'll shut it down. Just like you showed me."

"You don't know how! I am not leaving you!" Rodney screamed. The guards were not sure what to do, so they shoved the man screaming at their leader down the ramp.

Rodney lost his footing and fell on his broken arm screaming in pain. He ignored it and pushed himself up with his good arm. _I can't lose her!_ "No!"

"McKay," John and Ronon ran forward with their P90s raised. "What's going on?"

"Jennifer," Rodney could barely get the words out. "Jennifer must have offered herself in exchange for our freedom."

The teammates looked up the ramp to see the CMO being held at knifepoint at the top of the ramp. Ronon was growling in anger and trying to aim a P90 at the coward shielding his body with Jennifer. He might have had a shot with his energy weapon, but was less practiced with the standard P90 and didn't want to risk hitting his friend.

"Let her go!" Sheppard yelled as he and Ronon tried to aim their guns.

"I don't think so. The Doctor can help my people use the Ancient weapons and provide certain comforts that none of you would be able to provide," Karric said with a leer pulling Jennifer closer to his body and pressing the knife to her neck. She could be heard gasping as the point pressed against her flesh.

Rodney grabbed a P90 from Ronon and aimed it up the ramp. He was no sniper and could never get the shot on a perfect day; with one arm and tears in his eyes there was no chance.

"Rodney, I'm sorry," Jennifer could be heard. "I love you. I always have."

"John, we have to do something," Rodney pleaded to his team leader who had his own P90 raised. John was a good shot but it was too risky with the knife pressed against Jennifer's throat.

"We need him to move away from her some so I can shoot him," John said quietly to Rodney.

"Karric, I'm coming back up there. You are letting Jennifer go or I'll shove this gun up your…" Rodney started to move forward.

"Rodney, stop. He'll kill you," Jennifer screamed as she struggled against Karric. He shifted his arm around her waist and moved the hand with the knife slightly to get a better grip of her.

A single shot echoed through the area. Everyone stopped moving and the teammates looked around to see what happened.

Jennifer's scream could be heard as she and Karric fell off the ramp. His hand was clutching her neck, pulling her with him. It was at least ten feet to the ground and he landed on top of the petite woman.

Ronon and Rodney ran toward them. John aimed his gun at the two guards and yelled, "Drop 'em!"

The sound of guns clattering against the metal ramp echoed around the area as Ronon and Rodney arrived to pull Karric off of Jennifer. She was unconscious when Ronon finally pried Karric's death grip from her throat. He had a neat bullet hole in the center of his head. Ronon grabbed the knife that had fallen and shoved it into his chest as if the gunshot had not killed him already.

Rodney felt tears running down his face as he slid his arm under Jennifer's shoulders to pull her to his chest.

"Rodney, you probably shouldn't move her," John's voice was saying. "She could have hurt her head or back when she fell."

It was already too late because the physicist pulled her even closer and lowered his head to feel if she was breathing. "Please don't die on me. Not after all this."

A spot of blood was on the side of her neck where the knife had dug in and the imprint of Karric's hand, which clutched her throat as he died, was forming on her pale skin.

"She's breathing," Rodney croaked. His voice was broken and shaky, sounding foreign to his own ears. An image of her falling with that creep holding her would haunt him for years to come. _So close to losing you._ "I love you, Jennifer."

John squeezed Rodney's shoulder and looked at Ronon as the Satedan dragged the body of Karric away from his friends. The villagers had come out of hiding and aimed a few weapons up the ramp in case more guards came.

"Jennifer!" Laura yelled as she raced over with her P90 in one hand. "Is she okay?"

"She's unconscious, Lieutenant." John looked at the scope and longer barrel on her P90. "That was some shot."

"I got up on a rooftop when the ship landed. I was hoping someone would come out and I could pick 'em off. Jennifer got Karric to move just enough so I could thread the needle," the Marine said to her CO.

The whine of jumper engines was heard and John looked up to see a jumper sailing in to land in front of the ship. "Looks like Lorne made it, too."

Jennifer was beginning to stir slightly in Rodney's arm. He was rocking her slightly and had his head buried in her hair. His right arm was wrapped around her shoulders and his body was propping her up. When he felt her head move on its own, he drew back enough to look at her face.

"R-rod…" Jennifer began but stopped as she moved her right hand up to her throat. "'urts."

"That bastard was choking you. Just stay still. We're going home. Lorne just arrived in the jumper," Rodney said finally feeling like a great weight was lifted from his chest.

"L-lor-ne?" Jennifer glanced around the field and could make out a jumper in the distance. Its ramp lowered and one of the Marines walked out.

"Let me help, McKay. You won't be able to carry her with that bad arm," Ronon said as he kneeled in front of them.

"Thanks," Rodney said to Ronon and then looked down at the woman in his arms.

Jennifer smiled as tears streamed out of her eyes. She lifted a hand to stroke his face. A look of pure love settled over her features as her brown eyes connected with his blue ones. "Love you."

"I love you, too." Rodney pulled her close and kissed her lips. After some time, he pulled back and said, "Just promise me, no more heroics please. From breaking out of cells and collapsing columns to designing TASERS and negotiating with psychos, I don't know where you are getting these delusions of grandeur, but you are going to be the death of me."

* * *

**A/N: I will have a brief epilogue. Thanks once again for sticking with me.**


	13. Epilogue

**MGM owns all characters.**

**A/N: Thanks again for all the support and feedback. **

* * *

John Sheppard sat in the balcony of the mess hall staring out over the city six weeks after their simple mission on M7V-805. Teyla, with a cooing Torren, sat across from him and Ronon sat to his left shoveling in his dinner into his mouth.

"Has Torren recovered from Kirsan Fever?" John asked.

"Yes, the last of the rash is finally gone. It has been a long six weeks," Teyla sighed. Due to Torren's illness, Teyla had not accompanied them on the mission.

Major Lorne, accompanied by newly promoted _First_ Lieutenant Laura Cadman, came over still limping from his gunshot wound.

"Got room for some more, sir," Laura said with a big grin.

"Sure, sit down _First_ Lieutenant," John said, noting Laura was always smiling and Lorne had a constant scowl on his face. _Still has not dealt with Jennifer and McKay I see_.

"Cheer up, Major. Since your leg is still not a hundred percent, you don't have to go on any missions. You can rest around base," the Colonel teased. He knew his 2IC was chomping at the bit to get back out in the field. Lorne had felt it was his fault Jennifer got captured.

If Laura had not killed Karric, he knew Evan would have wanted the Lieutenant transferred back to Earth. As it was, she was put in for promotion, while the two idiots who insulted Jennifer got sent back to Earth.

"You're glad I can do _your_ paperwork, _sir_," Lorne said spitting out the _sir_ like it was acid.

"Don't you have sparring with McKay to look forward to?" Laura asked.

"Sparring with McKay?" Ronon looked up from his food for a moment.

"Yeah. He came and asked me shortly after we returned and I can say, no one is more surprised than me. Said he wants to get better at hand-to-hand fighting to take care of Jennifer better or something like that. I guess he's afraid of you beating him senseless, so he came to me," the Major said looking surprised.

"No, he's presenting an olive branch. He knows you and Jennifer are close and only wants to make sure you approve of them," Laura added taking a bite of her food.

"I guess," Evan said looking like a dejected little boy.

_There really is a kinder, gentler McKay around._ Between the new ZPM, harassing he and Ronon about _rescuing_ them and his new relationship, Rodney was in a state of constant happiness. _Really unsettling if I think about it too much._

Carson came in with a flustered expression on his face.

"Carson, what's wrong? You look like you got a sun burn?" John asked as the red-faced physician sat down to his right.

"I just removed Rodney's cast." Beckett shook his head and shivered. "I couldn't get out of there fast enough."

"That's great news. Now he has no excuse for being off the team. Radek, just isn't McKay," John said.

"Thank God!" The voice of the Czech scientist came from behind.

"Hello, Radek. John meant no offense. We love having you on the team," Teyla, the consummate peacekeeper, said smiling over John's shoulder.

"Yes, it really was meant as a compliment, you know," the Colonel said trying to recover.

Now Richard Woolsey could be seen selecting something from the food line causing John to chuckle once more. The administrator was loath to try anything new since his drugging by Karric. Returning his attention back to his old friend seated next to him, he continued ribbing the Scotsman. "So, lost your touch with McKay? Jennifer has been his physician for a couple of years, so I imagine it's a shock to your system."

"Why can't Jennifer be his doctor anymore?" Ronon asked between swallows of his food.

"Because the medical profession frowns on a doctor treating someone they love. Jennifer is a consummate professional and doesn't want anyone to think she would show favoritism because of their relationship," the ex-CMO explained.

"I am certain Jennifer would not do that," Teyla added, trying to get Torren to stop smearing banana on his face and eat it.

Carson glanced across the mess hall and turned bright red again. John followed his eyes and saw a smiling and laughing Jennifer Keller and Rodney McKay talking to the cafeteria staff. A young man went in the kitchen area leaving the smiling couple and returned with a large box that he handed to Rodney. Wrapping an arm around each other, they turned and left._ Can't wait for the wedding._ John had some great ideas for a bachelor party Pegasus-style.

"I'm not hungry anymore," Carson said pushing his tray away.

"Are you going to spill the beans or not?" Laura glared at him.

"As soon as I took the cast off and ran a scan to determine his arm was okay, I swear he jumped off the bed and pinned Jennifer to the wall in an instant." Carson shuddered and closed his eyes. "It was bloody disgusting. I mean I know they're together, but… Well, they are usually low-key in public, holding hands, little kisses on the cheek, an arm around each other, stuff like that. Seeing them…"

John was laughing his head off, as were all the others except Lorne who looked at Carson with sympathy.

"I think Rodney's been waiting to have both hands before… you know…" John left it dangling for the others to fill in the blanks while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh, that's disgusting," Laura pushed her tray away. "Now that I _know_ what they'll be doing tonight, I don't think I want to hang around in the city."

"Let's go for a long, jumper ride," Carson said.

"Can I join you?" Evan added looking a bit green.

"I can leave the new ZPM for a while and if anyone is needed, we know McKay is here," Zelenka said also pushing his tray away.

The only one still eating was Ronon. "I don't get McKay," the Satedan said between forkfuls. "He doesn't really need two hands.

Groans of disgust and howls of laughter echoed throughout the mess hall.

John wiped tears from his eyes and said, "I'll be in the jumper bay in ten minutes."

**

* * *

A/N:**** A friend of mine might write an M-rated tag showing the **_**first**_** date of Rodney and Jennifer. Keep an eye out for it.**


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